


Tucker Ghouly

by ghostanimal



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Half-ghost Tucker, Nerd Sam, Reverse Reverse Trio, goth danny, inverse trio
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-07-13 18:32:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostanimal/pseuds/ghostanimal
Summary: AU in which Tucker is the half-ghost, Danny is the goth and Sam is the nerd. Eventual TuckerxSam





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Lots of stuff is AU. Please bear with me.

"Don't say a word," Tucker immediately told his friends. Both had opened their mouths to ask, but only Danny closed his mouth.

"Did you get into a ghost fight?" Sam's question came through anyway, concerned as she leaned in to look at the giant bruise on Tucker's face that had begun to swell, covering nearly half of his face and a harsh red-purple. Tucker blinked as he leaned back and away from her, before turning a bit pink and scowling.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said simply, and he brushed past them to his locker. He could hear Danny's boots clunking behind him, and he knew Sam was with him. He managed to find his locker with little trouble.

"Dude, it looks pretty bad. Was it one of the ectopusses?" Danny asked, keeping his voice a bit low. The hall was full of students, everybody seemingly lost in their own business as the school year was about to begin, trying to organize lockers and find classrooms. None of the trio was worried about somebody listening in on them, but one could never be too sure.

"Just drop it, okay," Tucker sighed, and he stuck his hand through his locker to open it. Using the combination was for suckers who _didn't_ have cool half-ghost superpowers. He began to unload his bag full of books. Danny began to open the locker two spaces away from him. The goth had managed to convince somebody to trade him so he could be close to his best friend.

"Tucker, it's okay if you lost," Sam tried to assure him. Tucker noticed that she didn't have her hands full of books. She must have already visited her locker. She shot him a sympathetic smile. "I mean, you've only been half-ghost for like-"

"SHH!" Tucker cut her off, and she jumped a bit in surprise. She flushed, and she muttered an apology. Tucker sighed heavily, slamming his locker door shut and mumbling something.

"What?" Danny asked, furrowing his brows as he leaned in.

"I flew into a billboard okay!?" Tucker scowled. Danny's face immediately twisted as he tried to not crack up. "I had to walk my sister to school because she was nervous about starting junior high, and I decided, hey, I'm alone now, why not fly to my first day of high school!" Tucker waved his arm dramatically in annoyance. "And apparently, Axion Labs is opening a new pharmacy in the mall. Did you guys know that? I know that now." He muttered under his breath, "stupid billboard."

Danny couldn't help it. He began to laugh. Sam scowled, elbowing the goth in the ribs. He winced, but continued to laugh. Tucker's eyes flashed a dark yellow in annoyance at him.

"Dude," Danny gasped, clutching his side where he was elbowed. "Why didn't you just go intangible?"

"...I tried. I uh...it didn't happen."

Sam bit her lip, trying to not laugh as well, but she couldn't stop the smile.

"I thought your control was getting better," she questioned. Tucker sighed.

"Yeah, same. Apparently not," he stated bitterly, and he readjusted his backpack on his shoulders. He looked at Danny, who had managed to calm down. "Do your folks suspect we did anything yet?" he asked, his voice growing a bit hushed. "About the portal."

Danny grew serious, and he shook his head no.

"...No. They think they fixed it themselves. And I've been looking through their files and research papers like crazy." He shut his locker, leaning against it with an elbow while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Nothing that suggests there might be a cure for...this." He nodded at Tucker vaguely. Everybody knew what he meant. "You may just...have to learn to live with it. I mean, once you learn how to control it, it should be fine, right?" Even Danny didn't sound convinced, but he forced a smile. "You can be like Iron Man or something!"

"And that sounds so cool," Tucker agreed, giving back his own weak smile, "But...my dad..."

"Did he get the job?" Sam questioned. Tucker shook his head.

"No, no. We haven't heard back from them yet," he confessed. "But my dad's going to get it. He's been one of the top police officers in Amity Park for so long, and he has the right military background and all the recommendations...The Guys in White would be stupid to not hire him."

"But your dad may turn it down," Danny pointed out. Tucker sighed.

"No. The pay and benefits would be too good for him to pass up. Olivia and I are getting older, ya know? She wants to be a lawyer, I wanna get into computer forensics. College is gonna be expensive," Tucker counter argued. "Plus Mom says she worries about him when he's out on patrol. She thinks that the Guys in White is good, harmless busy work, cause she doesn't believe in ghosts. Neither does Olivia." Danny snorted in amusement.

"Well, you always got us," Sam assured him with a smile.

"Yeah, we got your back. If you ever need a place to crash, you can just come over, my parents love you. Jazz too, even though she'd never admit it, you're like another little brother to her," Danny agreed. Tucker felt a lot of the anxiety that had been unknowingly built up over the course of the morning fade, and he grinned.

"Thanks!" he replied. "I love you guys."

"We love you too," Danny replied, and he reached in to wrap an arm around Tucker in a sidehug, Tucker returning it. Sam took a step forward to wrap her arms around both boys. "Come on. Jazz said that Lancer's a hard-ass."

The hug broke, and the three began to walk together to their homeroom.

"Whoa! Foul-ly! What happened to your face?" Dash's voice rang out. The halfa winced, ducking his head, and he began to move faster to his class, his friends speeding up with him.

"So, you still sticking with the goth thing?" Tucker questioned. Danny gave a shrug.

"I actually really like it," he confessed. He gestured to his black shirt with the red touches, the black skinny jeans and, you guessed it, black and red boots. "At first, it was honestly kinda to just freak Jazz out a bit, cause she's become such a psychoanalyzing pain in the ass, but I think it suits me."

"I like it," Sam piped up. "I think it fits your perfectly." Tucker suddenly took notice of something, and he squinted.

"Are you wearing make-up?" he asked his friend accusingly. Danny grinned, opening the classroom door for his friends, slipping in behind them.

"Make-up's gender neutral, my friend," he replied. Tucker glanced back. Indeed, the goth was wearing some black eyeliner. It was easier to tell in the light of the classroom rather than the dimmer, crowded halls. "Sam helped me get some."

"Yeah! We found the boots at the army supply store on sale too!" Sam added. "And the backpack too, but we dyed that because they only came in green."

"Oh, so are you gonna go goth soon too?" Tucker teased. He made a face as Sam rushed for a front seat. "No way, nerd!"

He grabbed the shoulder of her light purple sweater before she could sit, pulling her with him towards the last row. Sam whined.

"Come on, you know once you pick a seat people will never move!" she complained. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Sam, it's _homeroom._ You can sit in front when you get to your other classes," he told her. Sam gave a frown, but nodded as she moved to sit in front of Tucker, who sat in the very back. Danny took the seat next to Tucker, and Sam turned in her seat to better view her friends.

"So, you guys still wanting to come this weekend?" Danny questioned. Sam's eyes lit up, and she grinned.

"Of course! How often do I get a chance to go to a convention that's just packed with all sorts of ectobiology lectures! And I _finally_ get to hear about the ghost plants your parents have been studying in the lab! I've been begging them for weeks to give me more info, but they kept telling me that I could wait until the lecture to learn all about it!" Sam gushed, eyes sparkling happily behind her glasses. Danny chuckled, calling her a nerd under his breath, earning a playful slap against his chest.

"Tuck?" Danny asked, his playful tone dropping. The halfa darted his eyes towards his friends. Both looked at him with concern, for obvious reasons. He shifted in his seat.

He had been looking forward to the convention ever since the Fentons announced that they were invited as one of the keynote speakers due to their new ghost portal and the ghost plants Sam was so in love with. But now...would it be a good idea?

As to emphasis the trio's concerns, Tucker fumbled as he began to fall through the chair a bit. Sam immediately reached out to grab his hand, Danny leaning over to grab his upper arm.

"You okay?" Sam questioned hurriedly. Tucker waved his free hand.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" he replied quickly, and he shifted to sit properly in his seat again. He brushed imaginary dirt from his blue jeans and green and yellow shirt, ignoring his friend's stares of worry. "Just...I'll be there." Danny's eyes widened.

"Are you sure? There's going to be a ton of ghost hunters and ectobiologists and such," Danny was skeptical. "I can get you out of it, it's no big. I totally get it."

 _No. You **don't** totally get it._ Tucker smiled.

"I'll be okay. If nothing else, I can just leave early, right? Fly home?"

"Or into another billboard?" Danny joked. Tucker glared.

"Yeah, besides, this is an excellent opportunity to find out more things about Tucker!" Sam pointed out. "There's going to be an entire building full of _ectobiologists_! Just imagine how much they know! What we could learn! We could figure out a way to reverse this ourselves, or we could learn so much more about what kind of other cool ghost abilities Tucker may be able to learn!"

"Sam, you are the only person I know who could get so freaking excited about ghost biology besides my parents. Even normal kids who get excited about ghosts are more interested in getting freaked out while urban exploring," Danny deadpanned. "Are you sure we weren't switched at birth? All those words right out of your mouth were pure Maddie Fenton right there." Sam laughed, and Tucker chuckled. "Plus, my dad said his old college friends are going to be there, including Mr. Technus and Mr. Masters." Tucker's eyes widened.

"Your godfather's gonna be there?" Tucker blurted out excitedly. "I've been wanting to meet him for _ages!_ I can't bail now! I have so many questions about Axion Labs!"

"Like why they suddenly put that new billboard up?" Sam snickered. Tucker flushed a deep red.

"You guys will _never_ let that go, will you?"

"We wouldn't be friends if we did," Danny teased.

"But in all seriousness," Sam began, "are you okay, Tuck?"

"Actually, I think the bruise is getting better," Danny noted. This caught Sam's interest, and she sat on her knees backwards in her chair, leaning forward on Tucker's desk to take a closer look.

"It is!" she gasped. She put her finger up to point out the bruised areas, although she didn't touch. "I distinctly remember it extending to here and the coloring being a red-blue, which means it was new, but now it's turning into a pale green already! And it's actually fading into yellow-brown which means it's almost done! It takes nearly a week to do that!" Sam spoke faster and more excitedly with every word. "You have accelerated healing! That's amazing! That must mean that your cells-"

"You in the purple sweater, if you're done admiring your fellow students, would you please sit down properly in your seat?" Mr. Lancer's dry tone questioned, followed by an explosion of giggles.

Sam's face turned dark red, and she immediately turned and sat properly in her seat. She leaned forward a bit, tilting her head down and letting her long hair cover her face like a curtain as she listened silently to the teacher ahead of them begin to make announcements. Tucker was leaned back in his seat, a bit flushed at being unintentionally part of the call-out.

He felt a nudge against his shoulder, and he glanced over at Danny, who was grinning. He jerked his head towards Sam, jokingly making a kissy face. Tucker scowled, leaning over to punch his friend's shoulder. Danny shielded himself and playfully smacked back.

"Boys! Settle down!" Mr. Lancer boomed, and the best friends immediately stopped. Sam lifted her head to view the teacher glaring at the trio. "Am I going to have to separate you three?"

"No sir/Mr. Lancer!" the trio rang out in unison. He gave them a skeptical look before continuing on with announcements.

Tucker leaned his chin against a hand, sighing heavily. He sat up straight as he looked around curiously. He had that feeling that he had gotten before. A distinct, cold tingling feeling at the back of his head. His "spidey sense" as Danny called it. Or as Sam insisted on calling it, his ghost sense. The feeling never came without a ghost being nearby.

But where was the ghost?

Tucker scanned the room. Everybody looked like a typical kid, chatting amongst themselves quietly or passing notes, comparing schedules or just listening to music or scrolling on their phones. One kid in particular was just staring out the window. Was he mistaken? Tucker felt odd being on such high alert, but with nothing around that was needing to be alerted to.

"Dude, sup?" he heard Danny whisper to him. Tucker shot his attention to Danny. He was laying his head on his arms on his desk. Tucker mouthed the word ghost, and Danny sat up straight too, looking around. They both observed their surroundings for a minute. "I don't see any." They exchanged a curious look with one another. "False alarm?" Danny suggested quietly, as to not attract more attention.

"It's never been wrong before," Tucker mused softly, staring at his hands.

"Well, everything looks chill for now," Danny trailed off, doing another quick glance over. Tucker just nodded.

"If something happens, I'll do something," Tucker replied. Danny nodded.

* * *

That feeling was back. Distinct cold tingling at the back of his head, only stronger. His spidey sense. Or ghost sense. They needed a cooler name than ghost sense.

The tingling left him standing still, dumbly in the middle of the cafeteria, looking around dumbly. Most students seemed to just pass him, assuming he was looking for his friends. He noticed them out of the corner of his eye, and they were staring at him while he stared at everybody else.

"Tuck!" he heard Sam call out, and a hand shot up to grab his attention. He snapped out of it, and he moved to sit with them, slowing down as he noticed somebody else sitting with them.

A boy who looked deathly pale, in a white button up shirt and plaid pants, a bowtie and glasses, an almost cliche nerd outfit. Even his hair seemed a bit geeky. He looked depressed, staring at his tray of food. He had given Tucker a small glance with sad gray eyes when he sat down next to Sam and across from the stranger and Danny, but only gave a soft "hello" when Tucker greeted him first.

"Who's this?" Tucker asked. Danny beamed, wrapping an arm around the guy's shoulder. The stranger flushed anxiously.

"This is Sidney!" he replied. "Met him on the way here. Said he didn't have any friends, so I said he could join us," he explained.

Sidney didn't say anything in response. He didn't even smile or look up to spare a second glance at the halfa. He just looked...so sad. It was almost unnerving.

"So Sidney, are you new?" Sam questioned. She began to dig into her lunch. Sidney shook his head no.

"Have you lived in Amity Park long?" Tucker wondered. He nodded his head yes.

"What classes do you have?" Danny tried a non-yes-or-no question. Sidney didn't speak. He just stared at his lunch tray, unmoving and silent. It creeped Tucker out a bit, and the tingling feeling in the back of his head wasn't helping matters. The coldness of it was growing stronger, and he soon began to massage the back of his neck, hoping to soothe it.

"Sidney, are you okay?" Sam asked. Sidney didn't speak. "You should eat something." She reached out to lightly push Sidney's tray towards him a bit more. Sidney's eyes followed her hand, but he didn't budge an inch.

"Aren't you hungry?" Danny raised a curious eyebrow at his new friend. The boy shook his head no.

"I'll be back," Tucker spoke up, and he began to stand. "I have...a headache, gonna go to the nurse." He gave his friends a Look, and they understood immediately. Tucker shuffled out of his seat. He picked up his carton of milk to take with him, but he barely got three steps away before he felt somebody grab the back of his shirt.

"Hey Foul-ly! Your face's looking passable for human now." Tucker winced. "How about I help turn you back into the freak that you are?"

"I have to go," Tucker blurted out, and he tried to jerk his shoulders a bit to force the jock to let go. Dash held on tighter.

"What's the rush, Foe-low?" he demanded to know. Tucker squirmed a bit, noticing his friends out of the corner of his eye. Danny was beginning to stand up, grabbing a lunch tray that had been dumped of food contents. Sam had already made it out of her seat and was leaving, in search of a teacher. Sidney was, to his surprise, staring intently at him. Tucker met his gaze, and he shivered. His eyes looked hollow and empty. The tingling feeling felt stronger than ever.

"I don't want to fight, I just need to-" Tucker was cut off as he made contact with the lunch table. He groaned, feeling the wind knocked out of him as his gut hit the edge of the table, face slamming onto the plastic-wood and shin colliding with the seat. Despite it having fully healed in appearance, he could tell his face was going to be bruised-again-very soon from the impact. Danny glared at the other, holding up the tray.

"Fuck off, Dash," he threatened. His eyes narrowed as he was simply laughed at.

Tucker glanced up to see Sidney was no longer staring at him, but looking up at Dash. His face was scrunched up, angrily. He had no clue such a previously timid looking small guy could look so...well, intimidating.

"You bully!" Tucker was surprised at not just the outburst, but how strong and confidently it came out. Danny seemed taken aback too. Dash laughed, and he snapped his attention back to see Dash and some of his dumb jock friends.

"What are you gonna do about it, shrimp?"

Sidney put his hands on the table, and he pushed himself to his feet. The jocks watched him, amused as Sidney shuffled to stand on the table. Tucker found himself taking a seat, watching as well. Danny had lowered the tray in his hand, baffled at the scene. Tucker looked around. People were staring. Where was Sam?

"You think you're so funny, buster?" Sidney demanded to know. Tucker's eyes widened as he saw the teen clench his fist closed. And it began to _glow._ Shooting his look up to his eyes, they were slowly turning red. "Let's see how you like getting bullied!"

Sidney raised his hands up, and school supplies flew up into the air out of backpacks and off tables. Everybody began to scream and scramble. Tucker ducked under the desk, Danny coping his actions immediately. The two watched as pencils and pens began to fly at Dash and his friends like darts, hitting the floor with such force they stuck nearly half-way into the tiles. They screamed as they began to run, blending into the frenzied, panicked crowd. Tucker peeked out. Sidney was floating, papers and books swirling around him furiously as he shouted more.

"Dude!" he heard Danny gasp. Tucker looked over at him, and his friend, oddly enough, was grinning. Tucker found himself mirroring it. "It's go time! Get in there!"

"Time for Tucker Ghouly to shine!" he agreed, eyes flashing yellow excitedly. "I'm going ghost!"

A flash of light appeared at the teen's waist, flowing in opposite directions. It left behind Tucker in a black outfit with dark yellow touches, glowing yellow eyes and snow-white hair. Danny watched in almost awe when his friend phased through the top of the table and into the action. He began to army crawl out from under the table, keeping his improvised lunch tray weapon close.

Tucker floated above the lunch table. By now, the cafeteria had emptied itself of students, and Sidney had begun to make his way towards an exit. Books and papers still hovered around him, as well as a few notebooks and backpacks and other misc items from the cafeteria.

"Hey!" Tucker called out. The ghost stopped himself in his tracks, turning to look at Tucker. He didn't look angry with him, but he was clearly displeased. "Just because Dash is a jerk doesn't mean you gotta _stab_ him with a pencil!" Sidney narrowed his still pure-red eyes at him.

"Only another bully would stand up for a bully," he spat out. He raised a hand up to Tucker. Several papers began to fly at him, following by books and a few calculators. Tucker flinched, holding his hands up defensively as he turned intangible. The items flew by him harmlessly, smashing into the wall or falling to the floor behind him. Tucker grinned briefly at his success before dropping his smile in favor of a stern look.

"Seriously, man. You can't stay here! You need to leave!" he spoke loudly, trying to harness the same bold, confident energy he had seen his dad use before on a suspect.

 _ **"NO!"** _ Sidney's voice was unnervingly loud, echoing about the room. The items around him began to fly faster. Tucker swallowed nervously, feeling himself begin to sweat a little. " _I will **not** be bullied out of anywhere I wanna be **ever AGAIN**!"_

A frenzy of school supplies flew at Tucker. His eyes widened as the force pushed him backwards. He hit the wall, immediately shielding his face as he felt books, papers, pencils, calculators, erasers, all sorts of items hit or stab at him. The wave seemed to never end. He finally turned intangible, falling back into the wall.

Seconds later, he returned behind Sidney. He slammed into his back, causing the ghost to give a surprised yelp as he skidded across the floor. Tucker flew after him, kicking him in the stomach. The kick caused Sidney to skyrocket into the ceiling.

"Dude! You're kicking ass!"

Tucker grinned, glancing over at Danny. He was still clutching the lunch tray in his hands, but he was staring at his best friend with wide, excited eyes and a smile. The smile suddenly dropped, and Tucker glanced to see Sidney recovering. The ghost looked at the two of them before rushing for Danny. He grasped the teen by the upper arms, earning a surprised yelp.

"Danny!" he cried out. The goth had begun to pale in fear. "You've been such a good friend to me. I won't let this bully hurt you!"

He flew around to Danny's back, wrapping a protective arm around him.

"No-no-no! Wait!" Danny began to protest. Sidney hushed him, patting his shoulder.

"It's okay. I'll protect you!" he assured him, and he glared up at Tucker. The glare snapped the halfa out of his trance, and he flew for him. Sidney raised a hand, and a pile of books slammed into Tucker's back, sending him down into the floor.

Tucker groaned in pain as books continued to cover him, hiding him from view. He took a moment to recover before beginning to push them off of him, rolling over and sitting up to see Sidney disappear into the wall with a panicking Danny.

"TUCK!" he yelled.

"DANNY!" Tucker replied, his tone frantic. He rapidly began to push more books off of him. Exhausting was beginning to eat away at him, and he slowed down, putting a hand to his forehead as he involuntarily transformed back. "Fuck." he sighed to himself, only now taking notice of how heavy his breathing was.

The door burst open to the cafeteria, following by the suddenly very loud shouting match between two distinct voices. Sam and Dash. Tucker looked over, watching as his friend and the jock were yelling over each other at a shell-shocked Mr. Lancer. Tucker's heart began to pound anxiously.

"QUIET!" Mr. Lancer boomed, and the two voices immediately died out. He pointed to Dash.

"Foley started it! He insulted me and began a fight with this weird freak of a kid! They threw pencils at me like darts! I could have _died!_ "

"He's a liar!" Sam half-yelled. " _He_ started the fight. He called Tucker a freak and told him that he was going to beat him up to make him look like a freak. Sidney was just standing up for him!"

"Oh, so you're hanging out with a goth geek, a techno freak _and_ Carrie White's equally psychotic brother now?"

"Leave my friends alone, you jerk!"

"Quiet!" Mr. Lancer snapped again, and the two became quiet. His eyes scanned the room, spotting Tucker. "Mr. Foley! Come here!"

The halfa pushed the rest of the books that remained on him off, weakly pulling himself to his feet. He dragged them over to Mr. Lancer, pulling at his shirt a bit. His chest hurt, and he felt a bit woozy. He came to a stop next to Sam, who had her arms crossed and was glaring at Dash.

"Now, I understand there's been a bit of an... _incident_." Sam snorted in amusement. Lancer shot her a Look. "But none of this explains how the cafeteria is in _complete shambles._ " Tucker winced.

"I told you! Their weird psychotic friend made everything float!" Dash insisted, throwing his arms up and moving them to emphasis his words. "Pencils and pens and all sorts of stuff were going at me at like, mock ten! I could have DIED! They wanted to KILL me, sir!"

"None of this wouldn't have happened had you not picked on Tucker!" Sam scowled. Dash glared at her, but Mr. Lancer interrupted him before he could talk.

"Enough, Miss Manson." Sam's lips grew thin as she forced herself to not snap back. "All of you. My office. Now."

* * *

Tucker sat in his seat, leg bouncing anxiously as he leaned forward. His mind was racing. His dad was going to be _so pissed_ when he heard about this.

Sam was leaning back in her own seat, scowling with one leg crossed over the other, Dash casually leaned back in his own. Not a care in the world. Sam's parents were always busy, and she was overall a good kid. They barely noticed her coming and going due to their business. Dash's parents seemed to let him get away with anything. Both of their parents would probably barely blink an eye at their phone calls home on the _first flipping day of high school._ His dad? His dad was going to _kill_ him for not only getting a phone call home, but also basically destroying a cafeteria, letting his best friend get kidnapped by a weird depressed anti-bullying ghost, but oh hey, the whole ghost powers thing would probably come out right about now.

Least his dad couldn't work for the GIW once he ends up being convicted for murdering Tucker.

Mr. Lancer cleared his throat. The three stared up at him. Tucker's breath caught in his throat.

"Mr. Baxter, please go back to your class." Sam's jaw dropped.

"He's off the hook?" she demanded to know. Mr. Lancer frowned. "That's bullshit!"

"Miss Manson!" he said sharply. Her jaw quivered in anger. "Language." Tucker could almost see steam coming out of her ears. "I will talk to Mr. Baxter later with his coach about the issue."

"Oh, that's what it is!" she accused. "He's on some sports team, so you're letting him off scot-free! That's such horse crap!"

"Miss Manson, you are already in a world of trouble." The vice-principal/English teacher's voice was growing more and more impatient. "You already destroyed a school cafeteria, nearly caused serious physical harm to another student, interrupted homeroom and it's." Mr. Lancer mockingly looked at his watch. "Only 12:57 in the afternoon of your first day of high school." He stared at her, and Sam's confidence seemed to completely drop. "Do you really want to make this more difficult on yourself?"

Her lower lip quivered, and she sniffled a bit, wiping at her eyes despite no tears having appeared yet. Dash shot the two a smug look as he exited the room, giving a small, smug wave as he left and closed the door behind himself.

Soon as the door closed, Mr. Lancer coughed a bit to clear his throat, patting his chest as he set aside a file. Tucker assumed it was Dash's.

"Sam didn't do anything," Tucker finally spoke up. Mr. Lancer glanced up at him over the rim of his reading glasses. "She left to go find a teacher. She had nothing to do with any of this." He took a deep breath. "I did it all. I destroyed the cafeteria." Sam's eyes widened. Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is that so?" Tucker paused, but he nodded before bowing his head down. His dad was going to kill him.

"Yeah. She went as soon as everything began. She didn't do anything besides leave to go and find you."

Sam glanced anxiously from Tucker to Mr. Lancer, but she didn't say anything. Mr. Lancer observed the two for a moment. The bell rang, causing the two to jump. Mr. Lancer sighed heavily. He put his hands on his desk, using them to push himself to his feet as he took his reading glasses off.

"I'll be right back," he informed them. He picked up a giant stack of papers on his desk, tucking them under his arm as he grabbed a briefcase. "I need to start my class. Don't leave. The admin assistant will be watching the door."

He went to the door, opening it and leaving the two in silence before Sam finally broke it.

"You didn't have to take the blame for everything," she said softly. Tucker shook his head no.

"You literally didn't do anything. I really did," he sighed, and he began to rub his eyes tiredly with the palms of his hands. "I destroyed the cafeteria fighting Sidney. And now he's got Danny."

"He's got Danny!?" Sam gasped, eyes widening. Tucker nodded, and he sat up straight with a sudden boost of energy. Danny needed him.

"Yeah. He's got Danny. We need to find him, stat." Sam worriedly looked at the door.

"Well, I don't think Sidney would leave the school," Sam said slowly as she thought. "According to the Fentons, lots of ghosts tend to stick to one area or location. Maybe we should just look around?" Tucker nodded. He stood up, allowing a bright light to briefly fill the room before he was left standing his ghost half. He reached a hand out to Sam, who looked puzzled.

"Come on," he encouraged her.

"What!?" she sputtered anxiously. "I can't go through walls." Tucker frowned. "And I can't just walk out the front door."

Tucker reached out to grab her hand, causing her to flush pink.

"It works with opening my locker door," he told her. "The same concept _should_ apply."

Before Sam could protest, he turned them both intangible and pulled them through the floor. Sam let out a horrified shriek as they descended into the basement of the school. She finally stopped once she hit the floor, breathing heavily. Despite this, she had a wide grin on her face.

"Oh my god!" she gasped. "I can't believe that worked! How did you do that! How can _you_ transfer _your_ ghostly abilities so that I can experience the same thing as you!?" Tucker couldn't help but crack his own smile.

"I don't know, Sam," he admitted. "But we need to find Danny."

"Right, Danny." Sam agreed, giving a nod and turning serious. She noticed she was still holding Tucker's hand. Tucker suddenly let go of it, flushing a bit. "Let's go."

* * *

Danny gave a half-smile to Sidney as he accepted the apple from the other.

"Thank you," he said, a bit quietly. Sidney warmly smiled in returned. Danny reluctantly took a bite out of it. After all, he hadn't eaten lunch, and despite his kidnaping, Danny didn't really feel in danger. He wasn't even tied up. The goth was sitting on a box in the basement, surrounded by school supplies with Sidney floating before him.

"Are you hurt?" Sidney questioned, his voice equally quiet. Danny shook his head no.

"No. I'm fine," he assured him, forcing to smile more at him. "Tucker would never have hurt me. He's my best friend." Sidney's face fell.

"You're a bully too," he replied in disbelief. Danny put his hands up defensively.

"No-no-no!" he said quickly. "Tucker's _not_ a bully." Danny hesitated. "I know it looks bad, and that he attacked you, but...to be fair, you were attacking other people too, Sid." The ghost's face soured.

"He was hurting people," he argued, clenching his fists together. They were shaking out of an anxious fear as he began to pace. "I couldn't do _nothing_. I _had_ to do _something._ " The ghost paused, his entire body briefly shaking. "When people do nothing, it's how people end up really, really hurt." Danny's heart went out to him.

"Is that what happened to you, man?" he asked, tone low. Sidney's lower lip quivered, and his eyes were tearing up dangerously.

"Why didn't anybody help me, Danny?" Sidney ignored his question. His voice was shaking dangerously. "Why were you the only person to ever ask me to sit with you at lunch? Nobody's asked me to sit with them. Nobody's ever bothered with me at all. Why did you?"

"I can't answer for why other people do stuff," Danny told him. "But I can say that I know what it's like to be alone, to not have any friends. Tuck was the first person who began talking to me, he kind of took me under his wing when I first moved to Amity Park, ya know? Him and Sam. They didn't care that my family were freaks, or that I was kind of weirdly into space. They still liked me. They're good friends."

Sidney didn't say anything, and Danny took the silence as a chance to continue to eat the apple.

"Danny!"

Sidney and Danny's attention snapped as Tucker slid into view, Sam not far behind him. Sidney pointed at Tucker accusingly, hands glowing. The school books and papers surrounding them began to form a stacked barrier around Danny with a few holes, allowing the goth to peek out at the upcoming battle.

"Stay back, bully!" Sidney called out. Tucker put his hands up in surrender.

"I'm not here to cause trouble," Tucker replied, raising his voice to assure he could be heard. "I just want Danny."

"You don't deserve him, you big bully! I know you hurt other ghosts just trying to find a home, you pick on others and you even go as far as to pick on your own family!" Sidney replied, narrowing his eyes accusingly. Tucker looked flabbergasted.

"Look, if this is about making a few things in my sister's room float to freak her out a bit-" he began, but he was cut off by a book being thrown at him. He managed to dodge. "Okay, you're _clearly_ an only child!"

"Tucker, look out!" Sam yelled. Tucker pushed her off to the side before leaning back to avoid an incoming calculator.

"Remember the plan!" Tucker told her, and he began to fly straight towards Sidney. The ghost was caught off-guard, and they collided, sending them both flying backwards.

Sam made a beeline for Danny.

"Are you hurt?" she immediately questioned, reaching through the stack to grab for him. Danny took her hand, squeezing it.

"I'm good. He didn't do anything. He's actually been pretty chill," Danny confessed. Sam nodded, and they let go of each other's hands. Sam began to tug on one of the books that was keeping the barrier together.

"There has to be a structural weak point somewhere," Sam mused. She touched the barrier. "It looks like it's got an ectoplasmic coating over it keeping it together. But I don't know what or if I can do anything about it."

Sidney quickly recovered from being flown into. He grabbed Tucker by the shirt, throwing him off of him. Tucker managed to land, skidding slightly as he got his bearings. He flew back towards the ghost, fists ready and sending a punch. Sidney dodged, and he kicked the halfa in the gut. Tucker gasped, but quickly grabbed Sidney's foot, tossing him. The ghost yelped as he was sent flying.

"Tucker!" He glanced to observe his friends. Danny was still trapped, looking up at him as Sam was frantically trying to pull anything from the pile to make a big enough hole to allow the goth to escape. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sidney still flying. He made a quick decision, and he flew for his friends.

Surprisingly, Tucker was able to phase a hand through the barrier to grab Danny's shirt. He turned the goth intangible, pulling him through before wrapping an arm around both of his friends, holding him tightly to him before flying towards a wall to the outside as fast as he could. Soon as they were outside, Tucker slowed down.

Slower and slower, he floated towards the back of the school before collapsing, bringing Danny and Sam down with him. Tucker laid on his stomach for a moment, breathing heavily as he changed back, clothing his eyes. Danny shifted to sit up, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Damn. Most interesting first day of school ever," he lightly joked. Sam rolled her eyes as she sat up too. She placed a hand on Tucker's back, lightly rubbing it.

"Tuck?" she asked softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," the half-ghost panted. He shifted to rest his head on his arm.

"Dude, you look exhausted," Danny said.

"Flying through walls and fighting ghosts will do that to ya," Tucker tried to joke, giving a weak grin. He sighed tiredly as he rolled onto his back before sitting up. "I know we all promised that we'd go to the Nasty Burger today after school, but-"

"No, dude, we totally get it," Danny interrupted him.

"Yeah. We probably could all use an early night. There's always the weekend," Sam agreed. Tucker felt like the luckiest half-ghost ever.

"You're the best," he sighed. "I'll text you later, but for now, I got a date with my bed."

* * *

Tucker slowly closed the front door to his home, sighing heavily as he immediately leaned against it once it clicked shut. His eyes closed, and he took a few moments to just...think as his forehead rested on the wood.

"Tucker? Baby is that you?" Tucker jerked his head back from the door, glancing behind him at the empty surroundings. It sounded like his mom was in the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me," Tucker called out, shifting to take the backpack off his shoulders, slinging it on the bottom step of the stairs as he passed them to the kitchen. He opened the swinging door and stepped in, only to nearly skid to a halt at the sight before him.

His mom had made a pie, and he could tell based on the smell that it was blackberry. His dad's favorite. Eyes darting around, he noticed a small blue wrapped box next to it, as well as a card on top of an envelope. His mom, Angela, glanced at him, giving a smile. She was putting the final touches on dinner. Tucker noticed a bottle of wine on the counter. His parents rarely drank.

"Hey honey, how was school?" she asked.

"Good," he lied, his heart racing a bit.

"That's good," she replied, a bit softly. She used the spoon she was cooking with to gesture to the table. "Go sign the card over there and seal it please, Olivia already signed."

Tucker went over to the cards. There was a pen on the table, and he picked it up. He read what Olivia and his mom had wrote.

_CONGRATULATIONS DADDY! I love you! Love, Olivia_

_Congratulations, Maurice. I'm so proud of you. XOXO, Angela_

"Wait, so the-"

"Guys in White called?" Maurice's voice happily called out as he came in through the same swinging door that Tucker came through. Tucker quickly scribbled a _Congrats_ and his name before scrambling to put the card into the envelope. He put the card on the table before turning to look at his dad. He wasn't in uniform right now, but casual attire. "Yup! I got the job."

"And I'm so proud," Angela gushed. She set her spoon down, moving to Maurice and happily giving him a kiss. Tucker made a soft, grossed out noise.

"Next Monday, I will officially be the head agent at the Guys in White," his dad announced, giving Tucker a smile. Tucker smiled weakly back.

"That's great, Dad." Great. He was already in a boatload of trouble at school and Lancer was bound to be on his ass tomorrow, there was still a ghost on the lose, and his dad got the job. Perfect. Could today get any worse? "I'm sure you'll do great."


	2. Chapter 2

"You sure you know how to get there?" Tucker asked. Olivia rolled her dark purple eyes. Tucker was carrying two lunchboxes in one of his hands, a pink Barbie-themed and a plain dark green one, the other holding his cell phone as he texted his friends.

"I'll be fine! I'm only going one block by myself before I meet up with Amanda," she insisted. She kicked a small rock with her shoe. "I'm twelve now. I'm not a baby anymore."

"Come on, you don't like your big bro walking you to school?" Tucker teased.

Olivia stuck her tongue out at him as they approached a corner. Sam and Danny were waiting for them, idly chatting. Tucker shoved his phone in his pocket as he handed Olivia the pink lunchbox.

"Thank you!" she replied cheerfully.

"You got your phone?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah!" Olivia produced an iPhone with a light pink case. Danny frowned.

"An iPhone? Really? You know those are made in swe-."

"Danny, it's too early for your human workshop stuff," Sam replied tiredly. She took a sip from her travel mug of coffee. Danny made a face at her.

"You sure you know the way?" Tucker ignored his friends for now. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Duh!" she replied. She put her phone in her pocket, moving to go down the block. Tucker reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe I should go with you," he began, "make sure you get there."

"Tucker, she'll be fine," Danny told him.

"I can call if I have trouble," Olivia agreed, shrugging his shoulder and eagerly walking off.

"You got my number, right?" Tucker yelled at her.

"Ye-es!"

"Tuck, she's twelve. We were walking to school on our own since we were like, nine," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah she'll be fine," Danny agreed. He offered his mug to Tucker, who accepted it and took a drink. "She's a smart kid. Smarter than you," he joked.

"She only seems smarter because she's good at arguing!" Tucker scowled before his annoyance dropped. Olivia skipped around the corner and down the street to her friend's house, oblivious to the conversation. "I dunno. Maybe I should follow her, make sure," Tucker mused, letting Danny take his cup back and take a drink.

"We have more pressing matters," Sam reminded her friends. "The ghost? Sidney? He's still on the loose. We gotta do something." Danny nodded as he pushed the button for the crosswalk.

"Yeah, agreed. Which is why I found and tinkered around with this bad boy," Danny grinned. He handed his cup to Sam, who accepted it as he dug through his backpack. He pulled out a thermos. Sam squinted.

"Is that more coffee?" she questioned. Danny shook his head no.

"It's the Fenton Thermos," he explained, rezipping his backpack and holding it up. "My dad said it can trap ghosts. And I can empty it in the Ghost Zone. We can test it out, and I can probably make adjustment as needed. The structure is solid, and I know the program they made for it. So, Tuck, you should have it." Sam gave a long sigh. "...He followed Olivia, didn't he?"

"Mhm."

* * *

Tucker floated behind his sister in his ghost mode, invisible. She was with her friend, the two chatting idly about typical twelve-year-old-girl stuff. The school was, quite literally, less than three blocks from where Tucker and Olivia met up with his friends.

"Good morning, girls!" Tucker felt the cold tingling sensation again. Spidey-Ghost sense! Ha, he knew it was a good idea to tag along.

"Morning, Dr. Spectra!" the two pre-teens echoed together in unison. Tucker stuck close by, but hovered overhead, remaining invisible. A red haired woman in a red suit and skirt attire smiled warmly at the girls behind her sunglasses. She was holding a bunch of binders to her chest, along with a briefcase bag on her shoulder. A short man was carrying four cups of coffee in a drink holder from a shop, but he remained silent.

"Oh honey," the woman, Dr. Spectra, frowned as she glanced over her glasses. "How old are you?"

Olivia paused. "I'm twelve. Thirteen in January."

"Aren't you a bit old to have a Barbie lunchbox?" Dr. Spectra questioned. She glanced critically at the preteen's outfit, knee-length jean shorts, white shoes and a light pink and purple shirt. "And to be wearing such...elementary attire? Maybe try changing your hair?" Olivia's hand hesitantly moved to touch her hair, which had been pulled back into twin buns. "Oh, I don't wanna make you run late for class though. My office will be open if you want to come discuss it or anything else during lunch or after school, alright sweetie?" Olivia smiled.

"I'll come by at lunch!" she told her. Spectra beamed.

"Atta girl," she cooed, and she walked off into the building, the silent short man following her. Tucker frowned. He'd have to confront Olivia about the encounter another time.

The bell rang, and Tucker's eyes grew wide. Fuck, he was going to be late for his own class.

* * *

Tucker blinked as a thermos was put in front of him the second he sat down in his seat. He stared at it, picking it up. It was green and silver, with buttons and a display screen. The halfa examined it in his hands, glancing up to notice that Sam's backpack was in her chair in place of her. She must have run to the bathroom real quick.

"Did you get me coffee?" he asked, confused. Danny scowled.

"It's not coffee!" he replied. "If you had stayed instead of running off to stalk Olivia, you'd have heard me explain it. It's the Fenton Thermos. It-"

"I wasn't stalking Olivia, I'm her brother. I'm supposed to make sure she's okay," Tucker interrupted. "She's never walked to school alone before."

"I have a sister too, but I don't follow her around," Danny frowned. "I have a life." Tucker narrowed his eyes, and Danny flinched at his own unintentional jab at the whole ghost thing. "Whatever. But the thermos will help you trap ghosts."

Tucker stared at him.

"By offering them coffee?" he asked, his voice a bit dry and sarcastic. Danny scowled again, snatching it back.

"No! You open it up, and you're supposed to press this button on the side, and from there, it should suck the ghost into the thermos and contain it. Then I can put it back into the Ghost Zone," Danny explained. He demonstrated as he talked, but kept the thermos point from Tucker. Just in case. He recapped it. "It's untested, but we can try it out."

"Sidney?" Tucker guessed, accepting the thermos again. He looked over it carefully. Danny was quiet for a moment.

"I dunno, man," he sighed. "I mean, Sidney was...chill. He didn't hurt me, and he didn't really try to hurt anybody. Other than Dash, I mean, but like...he only did it because Dash threw the first punch at you." Danny looked at his hands, drumming his fingers on his desk. He glanced up at Tucker, who tensed up a bit as the cold, tingling feeling began to creep up on him. "He was standing up for us. He wanted to protect us."

"Well, I think he's on his way," Tucker replied seriously, giving a light frown. Danny looked concerned.

"Spidey sense?" he questioned. Tucker nodded, and he rubbed the back of his neck to try and relieve himself of the feeling.

"I'll be back," he said, and he slipped out of his seat to dart out the door, thermos clutched in hand.

The hallway was mostly empty of students, as the bell was due to ring any second now. He turned a corner to look down a long, empty hallway. Tucker was left walking to the bathroom alone. He felt a bit of anxiety wash over him as the tingling grew colder and stronger.

The door to the restroom swung open as Tucker approached it, and he stopped in his tracks as he came face to face with Sidney. The ghost looked apologetic, flashing him a nervous smile.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, and Tucker was taken aback by how calm and collected he was. He took a step back, eyes wide. Sidney's anxiety seemed to skyrocket, the boy clasping his hands together. "I was just on my way out, I don't want any trouble."

"Y-you're the ghost that destroyed the cafeteria!" Tucker exclaimed accusingly, and his eyes narrowed. He scanned around them, and, seeing nobody, turned ghost. Sidney's eyes widened before his expression darkened. He scowled, and his eyes grew fully red.

"You're that bully who wanted to make me leave!" he replied accusingly. Tucker's grip on the thermos tightened, and he pulled the cap off, pointing it at Sidney.

"Well, now you're gone!" he declared boldly, and he pushed the button on the side. Sidney stared, watching the thermos exhaled a bit of smoke.

"...Are you trying to offer me some coffee?" Tucker scowled, hitting the side of the thermos as he pulled it closer to him.

"Hunk of junk," he muttered to himself. When he glanced up, he saw that Sidney had vanished. He began to float, prepared to chase, but paused as the bell rang. Tucker sighed, and he returned to the ground and changed back. He went to open the bathroom door when it opened again, and he paled.

"Oh, Mr. Foley." Mr. Lancer looked surprised, pleased and yet angry all at the same time. Tucker winced. "Perfect. I'd like to see you in my office. Miss Manson's already waiting for you."

* * *

"I mean, we're lucky we only got two weeks of detention. It's still fucking bullshit," Sam grumbled, slamming her lunch tray on the table before she slipped into a seat across from her friends. Tucker shrugged half-heartedly, poking his fork at the spaghetti.

"It's not just that," he confessed, sighing. "Sidney got away cause the thermos didn't work, Dad got the job, and-."

"The thermos didn't work?" Danny sounded heartbroken, speaking at the same time as Sam questioned "Your dad got the job?" Tucker silently handed Danny the thermos. The goth immediately took the cap off to peer inside before digging through his backpack.

"Yeah, we found out yesterday. He starts on Monday." Tucker suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore, and he pushed the tray away from him and leaned his arms on the table, crossing them. "How am I supposed to just lie to my family like that? It's hard enough to lie two people whose jobs are literally to figure out if people are lying and to uncover the truth, plus one that's trying to do the same. Now my dad's going to be working specifically to try and find out the truth about ghosts? As in, what I've become?" Tucker shifted to put his hands to his temples, hands clenched in anxious fists. "I'm amazed they don't already know. I give Mom or Dad like, three weeks tops, to figure it out."

"Look, Tuck, you'll be fine. Your mom may be a lawyer, but she mainly works with medical malpractice and insurance fraud, right?" Sam tried to point out. Tucker looked skeptical.

"Yeah, but if I'm fighting ghosts, I'm going to have to lie about where all of my injuries come from," he replied bitterly. Sam frowned. She didn't think about that.

"Well, with your accelerated healing, is that even going to be a problem?" she questioned. "I mean, at the rate your face healed, I'd guess it'd barely take you any time for something like, a broken bone or something to heal up."

"Yeah, but his dad's going to be the real deal," Danny spoke up. The goth had found what he was looking for, a Fenton Pencil Case (a regular pencil case with the word FENTONWORKS on it) that was full of small tools. He pried open the side of the thermos. Tucker leaned in.

"That doesn't look right," Tucker spoke up, pointing out part of the wiring. Danny nodded in agreement, and he began to get to work on it.

"But his dad's the real deal," Danny continued. "Coming from a kid with ghost hunting parents. My family is...well they're kind of a joke and mostly do research, but the Guys in White are a huge fucking deal. They catch and interrogate and collect samples from ghosts all the time. They're scary, and they're dangerous. And Tucker's dad was already the top police officer in Amity Park, they didn't ask him to be the new lead agent of the new base here because he's okay at what he does. Tucker's going to have to really be careful." Sam nodded in agreement.

"Well, we'll have to cross that bridge as we come to it."

"Yeah, especially since my spidey-ghost sense went off at Olivia's school too. I don't know if Sidney's there too." Tucker was beginning to look more and more distraught. He tried to focus on Danny's work on the thermos, occasionally pointing out things he noticed.

"Did you see him?" Danny asked, glancing up. Tucker shook his head.

"No, Olivia and her one friend talked to some lady, Dr. Spectra, and my spidey-ghost sense went off. I didn't see him though."

"Dr. Spectra?" Danny echoed, and he completely paused his work as he looked up. "That's the new school psychologist here. She's only here on Mondays and Wednesdays though."

"She must work at Olivia's school the other three days then," Tucker figured with a shrug. "You know her?" Danny nodded.

"Jazz's her student aid this semester," he explained. "I helped her carry a bunch of file boxes into Dr. Spectra's new office a while back." He glanced down at the thermos, snapping the lid back on. "I actually have an appointment with her tomorrow." Sam's eyes lit up.

"So...you're going to talk to her?" she asked, trying to keep her excitement down. "About...you know?" Danny didn't look at her, but gave a nod. Tucker didn't know what to say, and he stared at his food. He really, really didn't feel hungry anymore. Sam reached across the table to put her hand on top of his. "Do you want us to come with you? We won't go inside if you don't want to, but we wanna be there for you."

"Y-yeah," Tucker immediately spoke up. His throat felt unusually dry, and he cleared it before he continued. "We're with you no matter what." Danny glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and he gave a smile.

"Actually, I'd love to not go alone," he confessed. "Jazz offered, but I...I don't really want to talk to her about it. She over psychoanalyzes everything." Tucker forced a smile.

"We're with you. Every step of the way," he said. Danny seemed to visibly relax a bit before sliding the thermos to Tucker.

"Try it next time you see Sidney. It should work," he said. Tucker nodded.

"What do you think Sidney wants?" Sam blurted out. The boys stared at her. She shifted a bit in her seat. "I mean, what's his motivation for being here? Why doesn't he just...I dunno, destroy everything in the school to get rid of the bullies or whatever?"

"I mean, based on the portal, the Ghost Zone looks rough," Danny shrugged. "I wouldn't wanna live there either." Sam's eyes sparkled, and Danny immediately shook his head no. "Oh fuck no, we are _not_ going into the goddamn Ghost Zone, Sam!" She immediately stuck her lower lip out to pout.

"But think of everything we could learn!" she argued. "We could learn so much more about ghosts and their ectobiology and their culture and society! It could all really benefit us! The more we know about the things we're fighting, the better, right? We just gotta!"

"No!" Danny scowled. "That's so dangerous, I don't even know where to begin to argue that!"

"I think Danny's right," Tucker broke in. "You're gonna have to save your curiosity for when we're a bit more prepared to go into the Ghost Zone." Danny looked baffled, and Sam looked thrilled.

"You want to go...into the Ghost Zone?" Danny asked. Tucker shrugged.

"I mean...we should sometime, right?" he replied. "Besides...what if...like...I dunno it sounds...it sounds so dumb and it's crazy and shit but it happened-"

"You're wondering if there's somebody else out there like you," Sam finished his thought. Tucker just stared at her for a minute. He bit his lip and nodded.

"I mean, the ghosts would know, right?"

"Do you really think that's even possible?" Danny questioned, and he immediately winced. Sam shrugged.

"I mean, like, it happened to Tucker. There's so many people out there actively practicing ectobiology, there's an entire government sector dedicated to ghosts. It probably happened at some point," Sam pointed out. Danny gave a light shrug, and he, too, pushed his tray away from him a bit. Sam watched him closely. "You okay?" Danny gave a brief nod. "What time is your appointment tomorrow?"

"Before school," he admitted. "I was going to ask Jazz to just drive, since she always comes early anyway, but…"

"We'll walk with you," Tucker immediately offered.

"Oh no, how ever will Olivia get to school without you following her?" Sam teased. Tucker made a face.

"Hey, it's my _job_ to make sure she's okay!"

"She'll be fine!" Danny rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Tuck. She's gotta grow up sometime."

“If both of you are done eating,” Sam interrupted Tucker before he could even speak, “why don’t we go and look for Sidney? I’ll carry the thermos for now.”

Tucker and Danny glanced down at their lunch trays. Both had barely eaten anything. Danny quickly shoveled two bites of spaghetti into his mouth before picking up the garlic bread, shoving it inside before replying with a muffled “sure”. Tucker followed suit with his garlic bread as he picked up his tray. Sam picked up the thermos, tucking it under her arm for now. He turned to get out of his seat, and a flash of panic rushed through him as he felt his foot turn intangible and go through the floor briefly. It caused him to fumble and knock into somebody, but he felt Sam’s hand reach out to grab the back of his shirt. It helped him keep his balance and prevent a complete collision, and he quickly gathered himself.

"Oh! Mikey!" Tucker exclaimed, recognizing the redheaded nerd. The nerd scowled at him. He had his own tray of lunch balanced on top of some books, his fellow nerd friends following him. Thankfully they didn't seem to notice anything."Sorry! It's, uh, packed in here."

"Be careful, man!" he half-scolded, but he didn't seem too upset, and it seemed to quickly melt away. "Hey, you and Danny still coming to First Robotics after school tomorrow?"

"Course!" Danny piped up. Tucker nodded in agreement.

"Wouldn't miss it, dude!" he told him. Mikey grinned, giving a nod as he slipped past him and to a table.

"Ugh, it's getting really crowded in here," Sam complained, making a face. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, next time let's just go outside," he agreed, picking up his tray. The trio put their trays away and slipped out of the cafeteria. The halls were unusually full, students having opted to eat lunch in a classroom as opposed to outside when the cafeteria got too crowded.

"So, where do you think Sidney would go?" Tucker questioned. He looked around the hallway. Several students were gathering items from their lockers, some even camped out sitting against lockers with their lunches.

"Well, what do we know about Sidney?" Sam questioned in return. She pulled out a small notepad from her pocket and a pen. She flipped it open, and she began to write. "He's a ghost. That much is obvious."

"Are we seriously doing this?" Tucker sighed.

"No, this is good," Danny disagreed, and he put a hand on Sam's shoulder as he peered over it to watch her write. "We should keep a record of what we know. It'll come in handy. I doubt any of these ghosts would just, like, go away permanently. The more we know, the better. So, put down that we know he hates bullies. And when I was…" Danny gave a light shrug as he spoke "let's just say kidnapped, even though it didn't really feel like that, but whatever. During that time, he made a big deal out of how I asked him to sit with him, and he said something along the lines of how nobody's ever done that for him before." Sam nodded, writing as he spoke. "And he keeps attacking people he feels are bullies. So far, we know he considers Dash and Tucker bullies. He claims that he had to do something about them."

"God, what'd I do without you guys," Tucker blurted out. Sam and Danny paused, flashing him smiles. "But Sidney's also protective. Yesterday, he didn't make a dome to protect himself. He made a dome to protect Danny." Sam's eyes lit up.

"That's right. He's not outright malicious, he's trying to protect people he feels are worth protecting, and he's only really attacked people who are bullies!" Sam spouted off excitedly, continuing to write hurriedly. "He hasn't attacked just random students that are like, just mulling about! He's got a purpose in mind!"

"And he's lonely, I think," Danny continued.

"So, where would a lonely ghost who's wanting to protect those he considers weak?" Tucker questioned. They all paused as they pondered.

"I think I know," Danny replied.

* * *

Danny and Tucker opened the swinging door to the boy's bathroom on the second floor, rarely patrolled or checked on by the teachers. As expected, they saw two jocks cowering in the corner near the sinks, grabbing onto each other fearfully. Sidney floated before them, his back to the duo. A small freshman with oversized glasses and a stereotypically nerd sweater saw his apparent chance and forced his way in between Danny and Tucker and out the restroom, crying out in fear.

"What's going on!?" Sam's voice called out.

"We found him," Tucker called back, and his eyes narrowed at Sidney, flashing dark yellow. Danny nudged him, and they returned to normal.

"Sidney!" Danny called out. The ghost turned on a dime, staring at him. His eyes were pure red, but they were full of surprise instead of malicious intent. "Sidney, they're not worth it."

The jocks saw this as their chance, and they made a furious dash. They fully knocked over Tucker in their escape, pushing Danny and causing him to fumble back into a trash can. Sidney's eyes narrowed in anger.

"You're protecting them!" he accused Danny. He clenched his fists, and they began to glow.

"Finally," Tucker muttered, and he used his foot to force the bathroom door closed. "I'm going ghost!" Twin rings transformed him, and he jumped to his feet. He began to ran towards Sidney, only to nearly skid to a stop when Danny jumped in front of him.

"Wait!" Danny cried out, putting his hands out in front of him. Tucker stopped just in time to avoid making contact. Danny turned on his heel towards Sidney, who was still fuming. "Sidney! You don't have to do this!"

"Nobody else will do anything!" Sidney shouted, his voice loud and ringing in the enclosed restroom. There was a haunted, wailing echo to it that caused the boys to shiver. With every word, his volume increased. "The teachers! The parents! The principal! The students! None of them will do anything, so I **_WILL!_** "

Sidney let out a pained, howling wail. It roared in Tucker's ears, and he put his hands over them. He glanced over and saw Danny doing the same.

"Sidney!" he was yelling over Sidney's endless cries. "We don't have to fight! Just come with us, and we'll take you home!"

"That's not going to work!" Tucker yelled back. He could barely hear anything over the screams, and he brushed past Danny to run at him. He took a hand off his ear to send a punch at Sidney.

The wails instantly stopped, and Sidney flew into the wall.

"Danny! Suck him into the thermos already!" Tucker called out. Danny's eyes widened.

"I don't have the thermos!" he panicked. "I thought you had it!"

Tucker turned just in time to see Sidney charging for him. He managed to catch the ghost by the shirt, using the momentum to throw him into the other side of the room. Sidney crashed upside down into a bathroom stall.

"Then where is it!?" Tucker asked, his tone taking on a pitch of anxious hysteria. They paused.

"Sam!"

* * *

The nerd was standing outside the boy's bathroom door. The thermos was tucked in her elbow, pressed against her chest as she scrolled idly on her phone. She could heard the commotion in the bathroom, but she paid little attention to it as she grinned goofily at something funny that came up on a social media account.

"Aw, I love cats," she cooed to herself as she continued to scroll. Her name being yelled snapped her out of her trance, and she became alert. She shoved her phone into her pocket just in time to see Tucker being flung out of the bathroom and into the lockers. She gasped. "Tucker!"

Tucker groaned as he fell to the floor. The lockers had a decent dent to them, and he winced, rolling onto his stomach to pull himself to his knees.

"Sam! The thermos!" Tucker gasped, trying to catch his breath. Sam immediately began to fumble with the thermos, shaking a bit as she uncapped it.

She gave a scream of fright as the thermos was knocked from her hands by angry, glowing hands.

"NO!" Sidney shouted, and he grabbed her by her upper arms. Sam screamed again, eyes wide.

"Leave her alone!" Tucker yelled, and he scrambled to his feet, running at Sidney. He tackled him to the ground, Sam jerking with them and fumbling onto her back as well. The two ghosts began to roll down the hallway. Tucker landed a kick that sent Sidney into the ceiling. He phased through it, and Tucker snapped to his feet.

"Tucker!" Danny yelled. Tucker turned to his friend. He had picked up the thermos, and he threw it. Tucker managed to catch it, and he gave a nod. "Go get him!" Danny moved to help Sam up as Tucker flew after Sidney.

He landed in the empty hallway of the third story, looking around. He saw Sidney fly around a corner. His legs turning into a tail, he zoomed after him. The second he rounded the corner, a fist made contact with his jaw. Tucker cried out as he was sent back into a window. Thankfully, the glass didn't break, but he winced as he heard the glass still crack.

"You're a bully." Tucker moved to stand, his legs shaking from exhaustion beginning to set in. He gripped the thermos tightly. Sidney stood ominously before him, fists by his side and glowing as red eyes stared coldly at him. "And since nobody else will do anything, I will."

"No," Tucker spat out. He held up the thermos, uncapping it and pointing it at the ghost. "You've become a bully. It's over." _Please work._

He jerked back a bit as a bright blue beam of energy shot from the thermos. It hit Sidney dead on. He screamed, and Tucker's eyes widened as he watched the ghost being sucked into the container. He gripped it tighter, to avoid dropping it. Soon, the ghost was inside, and he recapped it.

It was really that easy? Tucker couldn't believe it. He turned intangible, and he went back down a floor. His friends were standing together by the bathroom, talking in hushed tones.

"I got him," Tucker announced. His friends jumped a mile into the air before turning to face him. Tucker glanced around before he turned back into a human.

"You got him?" Sam's voice was barely a whisper, but it was brimming with excitement.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I did it."

Sam beamed, and she immediately rushed into Tucker. She threw her arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug. He flushed, returning it. Soon as she let go, Danny was there, grinning as he playfully punched his shoulder.

"Our first real ghost hunt!" he said breathlessly, as if he couldn't believe it. "My folks would be pissed knowing it wasn't with them." Tucker laughed.

"Come on. Class is going to begin soon."

Sam happily clasped her hands together, bouncing a bit.

"Guys, our first real ghost!" she squealed. "And not an ectopuss, or a little ghost bug! A real ghost! Tucker stopped him! _We_ stopped him!"

Tucker chuckled, turning the thermos over in his hands.

"I know. It's unreal. Let's talk about it after school," he replied, and his friends nodded in agreement. "Now. Onward to World History!"

* * *

That next morning, Danny noticeably shook as he stood in the hallway near the door. The sign above it announced that it was the nurse's station, where the school psychologist and college counselor's offices were hosted. Tucker put a hand on his right shoulder.

"Dude, it's gonna be chill," he tried to sound cheerful and encouraging. Danny forced a weak smile. "We'll be out here waiting for you."

"Yeah, we'll be right here," Sam agreed, and she wrapped her arm around his waist in a sidehug from his other side. Danny relaxed a bit, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and hugging her back. "You got this." Danny took a deep breath.

"I got this," he lightly sighed, mostly speaking to himself. Tucker wrapped his arm around Danny's shoulder.

"You got this," Tucker repeated. Danny nodded. His friends let go of him, and Tucker opened the door to a small waiting room styled area. Danny walked in first, going straight to the desk. Tucker and Sam took free seats, leaving one open in between.

After a moment of Danny talking quietly to the woman at the desk, he returned to take the seat. He sighed heavily, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Sam began to lightly rub his back comfortingly, but both flinched as she accidentally shocked him. Tucker patted his shoulder, jumping as he did the same.

The door opened, and the familiar redhaired woman stepped out.

"Danny Fenton?" she called out, tone a bit soft. Danny snapped to his feet, and Dr. Spectra smiled. She strolled up to him, putting her hand out to shake his. Danny did so, and she jumped. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, this carpet is so bad at creating static electricity. My office is sadly worse." She gave a light laugh. "It's the price I'm willing to pay though to keep my rug. It's just too beautiful." Danny forced out a chuckle.

"That's okay," he replied, nervously taking his hands back and shoving them into his pockets. Dr. Spectra looked curiously behind him.

"And who's this?" she questioned. Danny half-turned to his friends.

"These are my best friends. Sam and Tucker," he replied. Tucker felt a bit uneasy at how deeply Dr. Spectra seemed to look at him. It was like she knew he was the cause behind it all, that he was the reason they were all standing here before her. She stared, unblinking, at him, for an uncomfortably long time. Sam didn't seem to notice though, as she smiled and stood up to shake Dr. Spectra's hand. She noticeably flinched at the shock.

"We're always here to support Danny," she spoke up. Dr. Spectra nodded at her before staring once more at Tucker.

"You too?" she questioned. The question felt odd to him, cementing that gnawing feeling that she knew, but he pushed the feeling away and nodded. She held her hand out for him to shake, which he did. He jumped at how strong the shock was, and he could feel the familiar, cold tingling coming on strongly.

"Of course. Danny's like a brother," Tucker replied. Dr. Spectra simply nodded, and she motioned for Danny to go into her office.

"Well, let's talk for a bit, sweetie," she spoke lightly and kind to Danny. He smiled weakly as he went inside.

Tucker scooted a bit closer to Sam as Danny disappeared into the office, Dr. Spectra behind him. She gave the couple a final stare, one of intense interest. It went on for seemingly forever before she closed the door behind her. They moved to sit again, this time next to each other. Sam immediately pulled her phone out, but Tucker instead focused his attention on the door reading "DR. PENELOPE SPECTRA" as he waited for his friend to emerge.

* * *

The door flung open. Sam and Tucker jumped, their attention snapping to their friend. He looked terrible. His face was red, eyes puffy and active tears that he was wiping away. They immediately stood to move towards him, but he put his head down and began to hurriedly walk away.

"I don't wanna talk," was all they managed to catch from him as he exited the door into the school's hallway and out of sight. Tucker felt his stomach knot up in guilt, and Sam looked worried.

"You always feel worse after the first session. But that's because you're breaking down all the problems so that you can rebuild into something new." Tucker snapped his head towards the origin of the voice, the tingling feeling strong. Dr. Spectra was standing in her doorway, looking sympathetic towards them. He felt a wave of anger that was quickly washed over by guilt. He just nodded. "Tucker, right?"

"Y-yeah." Tucker felt anxiety rising. "I-we need to go. We gotta check on Danny, and we have homeroom soon."

He turned to walk with Sam, who was already at the door Danny left through, it open as she peered over her shoulder at Tucker expectantly. He jumped at the shock of Dr. Spectra's hand on his shoulder.

"Danny told me a lot of things about what happened. You came up a lot, actually," she said, her voice a bit low to keep privacy. "This was a significant trauma. Are you sure you don't want to step into my office to talk about it a bit before you speak with Danny? I'll write you a pass for homeroom, and first period if need be."

"Danny talked about me?" Tucker didn't know how to even process that. Well, of course Danny talked about him, and partly of what happened. While he was sure he didn't reveal the half-ghost thing, the fact that Danny talked to Dr. Spectra about him, and that he apparently spoke a lot about him...Tucker never felt worse. "I..."

"Tucker?" Sam snapped him out of it. She was staring at him, hand still on the open door, confused. Tucker swallowed a lump in his throat.

"I...I think I'm going to talk to Dr. Spectra myself for a bit." Sam nodded understandingly, and she gave him a reassuring smile before she slipped out of the door. Dr. Spectra smiled widely.

"Step into my office, hon," she encouraged him. Her hand on his shoulder moved to his upper back, and she lightly pushed him inside. The tingling felt worse, and his chest hurt, but he nodded and reluctantly went inside with her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a few people question who Danny will eventually be shipped with since I plan for this fanfiction to eventually be Tucker/Sam, and I just want to let you know ahead of time that you will likely be disappointed. I apologize for it, but I feel like the ship makes the most sense given the context of the type of character I've made him in this AU. I don't want to reveal it before the time comes (the beginnings of it will begin to show in the next chapter or two), but just prepare for that.

"Would you like some tea?" Dr. Spectra offered. Tucker noticed that she had a small tea arrangement occupying half of a shelf. He felt too nauseous to drink anything, but he found himself giving a nod of agreement as he took a seat in front of her desk.

Dr. Spectra hummed as she went to prepare a cup, and soon, she was presenting Tucker with a cup. Their fingers brushed, and he jumped. The static shock was much more powerful than anything he had ever experienced before. Dr. Spectra didn't even seem to notice, as she was already on her way back to sit behind her desk.

"So, Tucker," she said slowly. "Tell me a bit about yourself." She gave a soft, breathless chuckle. "It's alright, sweetie. It's just us here. Nothing you say go past this room. You can trust me with anything you have to say. You don't need to open up right away, of course." The therapist shot him a smile that caused a cold tingling to overwhelm Tucker's senses. It seemed too...he didn't know how to describe it.

"I...well some stuff's happened lately. A lot of changes," he confessed. Despite his nausea, he forced himself to sip the tea to avoid having to say more.

"Life's full of changes," she said. Her tone remained soft and even, pleasant, like a mother. But unlike a mother, she had a coldness about her that put him on edge. He couldn't place it. "I know that you just began high school. That's a huge change." Tucker nodded wordlessly, keeping the tea cup to his lips. He was pretending to sip as he tried to calm himself down. Anxiety was beginning to steadily build at a painfully slow pace. "Did you do anything exciting this summer, Tucker?"

The summer. He choked a bit on his own spit, and he put the tea cup on her desk, coughing a bit. He didn't even know where to begin. The summer was definitely...exciting to put it lightly.

"Well, I went to Egypt to visit my grandparents for a bit." Dr. Spectra looked genuinely surprised. "My mom's parents are from there, and I got to go visit them and some of my cousins."

"That sounds fun," she said, giving a nod. "Do you enjoy going to Egypt?" Tucker nodded, and he took a deep breath. He was beginning to relax.

"Yeah. I love it. I love seeing my family," he found himself smiling over the fond memories. Hanging out with his cousins, cooking with his grandma, listening to his uncles tell stories. Dr. Spectra nodded.

"You also got to hang out with your friends, right?" she questioned. Tucker nodded.

"Of course," he replied. "I hung out with Sam and Danny all summer when I was home."

"And that lead to the little accident, correct?" Tucker's mood instantly dropped, and his heart fell into his stomach. The accident.

"Y-yeah." Tucker's eyes focused on the teacup.

"From what I've heard, you saved Danny's life." Tucker's head jerked up to her in complete disbelief. Is that really how Danny phrased it?

"N-no," he stammered. "I just...I-"

"Oh Tucker, you don't need to be so modest," Dr. Spectra assured him with a warm smile. "Danny spoke so positively of you. You said that you insisted you take his place while you guys were working on your robots. He said it should have been him, and that you were a hero."

For a moment, Tucker was confused before he remembered the lie the trio had come up with. They were working on their robots for the competition in Danny's lab since he had all the cool tools while Sam nerded out over the ghost plants when the robot malfunctioned.

He felt guilt wash over him over the memories. Danny was so pale and shaking at how Tucker looked when he came out of his parents' portal. The shock had been so painful, and he gave an unintentional shiver at the memory. It was so...so painful. He had never felt that much pain in his life. But the accident in itself wasn't so bad in comparison to Danny.

_"It should have been me. It's my fault. It's all my fault. Tucker died, and it's all my fault. I killed my best friend."_ Danny's guilt-ridden sobs, the breakdown he and Sam both assumed that Tucker didn't hear, haunted Tucker more than the shock of the portal itself.

"N-no. It...it wasn't like that at all," Tucker slowly insisted. The words he wanted to say died before they could be said.

"From how Danny described it, you saved him from an absolutely miserable existence," Dr. Spectra commented. She looked sympathetic. Was...that how Danny was describing his half-ghost situation? A miserable existence? Did Danny think lesser of him no? No! No no no! Danny wasn't like that.

Well, it's not like Tucker didn't think about how awful it'd be to have ghost powers and ghost hunting parents. Granted, his dad was now, as of yesterday, Guys in White. That had to be worse. Right?

"I...It hurt, but…" Tucker stiffened a bit, thinking over his words. He straightened up. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Danny's my best friend." Dr. Spectra smiled.

"You two have such a strong friendship. I hope you can survive this little bump in the road," she replied. "Especially with how much trouble you put Danny through the last couple of weeks." Tucker's stomach knotted. How much did Danny tell her that he didn't even tell Tucker? "He did describe Sam as being his closest friend."

Tucker put the teacup on her desk. His hands were beginning to shake a bit. His friends had grown super close as of late, but he assumed it was due to nerdy ghost biology stuff. But…

They went school shopping together alone this year. They had a sleepover without him once already, even though he was home from Egypt. Were they texting and calling each other more? A pang of jealousy began to course through him. Danny was his best friend. Sam was...she was one of his best friends too, but was she replacing him? Were they slowly excluding their newly freak of a half-ghost friend? A friend...who didn't even go to check on his best friend since elementary school when he left the therapist office crying after finally seeking help with dealing with the guilt that that said friend caused to begin with. Tucker swallowed.

"I...I think I need to get to class," he spoke up. Dr. Spectra nodded in understanding, and she reached into her desk.

"You're not quite late, but just in case!" she chirped. Tucker stared, solemnly blank at her. How was she so chipper after this? Maybe that's how she just got through the day.

He accepted her note with a half-hearted thanks, and he left as quickly as he could.

* * *

Tucker let out a weak smile at his friends when he entered the classroom door, thankfully not late. They both glanced at him. Danny looked a lot better, head on his arms on his desk. His arms were covered by Sam's purple sweater, and the nerd herself was in her normal pastel-green t-shirt. They both didn't return the smile, instead looking away awkwardly. Tucker's smile dropped.

_"It should have been me. It's my fault. It's all my fault. Tucker died, and it's all my fault. I killed my best friend."_

He quietly went to his seat. Danny shifted to sit up in his seat a bit as Tucker took his normal seat next to him. The goth let out a long, pained sigh as he stretched a bit. Tucker could tell that his friend had put some makeup around his eyes to cover the redness and dark circles.

"Hey," Danny said softly. Tucker smiled. Good sign, right? "How was Dr. Spectra?" Even when he felt like shit, Danny was always like that.

"I should be asking you that," Tucker insisted. Danny didn't say anything for a moment.

"Hard," was all he said, exhaling the words deeply. "Jazz's always said the first few sessions are the worst though."

"Gotta break down the problems before you can rebuild into something new," Tucker remembered. Danny forced a small smile.

"Yeah." Sam was half-turned in her seat, smiling sympathetically towards the two.

"We'll be there for you every step of the way," Sam spoke up, and she reached out to pat Danny's arm. He smiled, and he bundled her sweater in a ball before returning it to her. She took her glasses off for a moment to put the sweater back on.

"Tuck, are you sure you want to come this weekend?" Danny suddenly asked. "To the conference?" Tucker's heart dropped a bit.

"Do you not want me to be there?" Tucker questioned.

"No!" Danny blurted out. "I really want you there. You're my best friend, I just...I just don't want to see you get into trouble or like, get hurt. There's so many things that could go wrong, and just, I already caused so much-"

"Dude. I'll be great," Tucker interrupted him before Danny could say anything. "I really wanna meet the mysterious Mr. Vlad Masters, billionaire scientist tycoon." Danny grinned.

"Vlad's great, man," he confessed. "I wish you could have met him sooner." He sighed. "I wish he wasn't always so busy too so he could come by the house more, but I guess you're always packed in your schedule when you have a business empire."

"He's staying for the weekend, right?" Sam questioned. Danny nodded.

"Yeah. He's actually coming tomorrow, but Dad's really trying to push for Vlad to stay a few extra days though," he explained. Tucker was grinning.

"So you're saying that FentonWorks Bed and Breakfast is possibly open to two more weekend guests?" Tucker teased. Danny chuckled.

"I'll have to ask, but yeah!"

"If he's coming tomorrow, does that also mean that we can come to dinner tomorrow?" Sam asked hopefully. Danny nodded.

"I actually already asked on that upfront. We're going out to eat. Vlad normally wants to take us all out to eat the first night he's here."

"I'll ask my mom right now if I can come over!" Sam chirped, pulling her cell phone out. Tucker did the same, shooting off a text to his mom.

"Will Mr. Technus be there too?" Tucker questioned, putting his phone on his desk. Danny nodded.

"Of course. Vlad and Nico normally both stay with us when they come into town." Before Tucker could ask, Danny snickered at him. "So yeah, you can have a full 24 hours to bug them about their inventions." Tucker grinned.

"Can't wait."

* * *

"You two have fun at your dorkfest," Sam playfully teased her friends. Tucker grinned as he opened the door to the classroom. There was already a poster on the door announcing "FIRST ROBOTICS CLUB MEETING TODAY!" on it.

"Well, it's just probably going to be a bunch of boring politics style stuff. First meeting," Danny reminded her as he slipped in past Tucker. Sam waved a hand dismissively.

"True, true, but still. Have fun, okay? I'll talk to ya later," she called out as she walked down the hall. Tucker watched her group up with a female friend of hers before entering the classroom, going ahead and leaving the classroom door open.

The classroom was already partly full of students, all nerdy-looking individuals. Tucker saw the teacher advisor at his desk, flipping through what he assumed to be some sort of class assignments. Mikey and Nathan were sitting at some desks that had already been moved to form a small circle in the middle of the classroom, talking deeply with each other. They both paused to smile and wave in greeting to the duo. Tucker and Danny took seats next to each other in the circle close to them.

"God, I hope we can build robots soon," Danny immediately spoke. Mikey laughed.

"Unfortunately, can't for a while. Gotta get down to business first," Nathan explained, and he stood up to go and shut the door. Soon as he shut the door, the announcement speakers hummed a bit before a voice came over.

"Daniel Fenton, to Dr. Spectra's office. Daniel Fenton, to Dr. Spectra's office."

Danny froze in his spot. Everybody turned to look at him, and his cheeks flushed red.

"You gonna help Dr. Spectra move more boxes?" Tucker asked lightly. Danny paused, but nodded.

"Yeah," he said slowly. He stood from his chair to leave. Nathan opened the door for him, and closed it behind him. A strong, cold tingly feeling hit Tucker, and he had a horrible feeling.

* * *

_Hey, you coming back?_

_Things okay?_

_Danny?_

_Sorry for all the texts, just lmk when you're done_

_Please pick up_

_Danny?_

Tucker scrolled anxiously through the texts he had been sending to Danny all night. What worried him most was that the texts were all delivered, but not even read. The last message he had sent his best friend was asking if he was still meeting them at the normal corner to walk to school together.

He finally pocketed his phone, glancing over at his sister. She was quietly looking down at her feet.

"No lunchbox today?" he questioned. She scowled at him.

"I'm too old for a Barbie lunchbox," she informed him. "I asked Mom for lunch money today." Tucker frowned.

"You're not too old for a Barbie lunchbox, Liv. Danny's almost 15 and he still carries a Crash Nebula lunchbox." Mentioning Danny made Tucker's stomach drop a bit. Olivia didn't say anything in response, just shrugged.

"Hey Tucker!" Sam's voice called out. Tucker smiled, only for it to fall when he realized Sam was standing at the corner by herself. "Hey Olivia!"

"Hi, Sam," Olivia's voice came out a bit quietly. Sam tilted her head.

"No lunch today?" she questioned. Olivia scowled once more.

"I'm too old for a Barbie lunchbox," she insisted with a frown. Sam didn't say anything. "I'm gonna go."

"Call if you need me!" Tucker yelled after her, earning an annoyed "I won't!" back. He sighed, and he gripped the straps of his backpack, clutching them tightly. "Have you heard from Danny?"

Sam shook her head no. She pulled her phone out, showing him her message log.

"I've been texting him all night, but he isn't even leaving me on read," she said. She pulled the device back to her, staring worriedly at the log. "Does he have a Dr. Spectra appointment today?" Tucker shrugged.

"I dunno. He was called to her office instead of going to First Robotics, and I waited by her office for almost an hour before Jazz told me that Danny had already left. I've been calling him and texting him ever since but with no response. I even called Jazz, and she said Danny's been in his room all night," Tucker's voice grew more and more worried. Sam's lower lip wavered.

"Well, we will be seeing Jazz at school, we can ask her," Sam mused. Tucker glanced at his watch before scrolling through his phone to Jazz's contact. He called her, putting the phone on speaker. Sam leaned in to properly listen.

_"Hello?"_ Jazz's voice came through the cell. _"Tucker?"_

"And Sam!" Sam piped up.

"Hey, is Danny okay? I've been calling and texting him since yesterday and I know I already called and stuff but." Tucker forced himself to pause. "Is he coming to school today?"

_"Yeah, he's running a bit late. I'm going to be driving us both to school soon, do you two want a ride?"_

"Oh, uh, we'll just see Danny in homeroom," Sam spoke up. "Tell him we miss him though, okay?"

_"Alright, bye!"_ The call ended. Sam and Tucker exchanged a worried look.

"Danny _always_ walks to school with us," Sam eventually sighed. "Even when he's running late." Tucker simply nodded, and he slipped his phone into his pocket.

* * *

Danny was already in his usual seat when the duo walked into the classroom. He glanced up at them, and they shot a worried look between each other. Danny looked like he hadn't slept all night, heavy bags under his eyes and no makeup covering it up, as well as like he had spent that entire night crying. He didn't look at them long before he returned his attention to look back at a piece of paper that laid on the desk in front of him.

"Hey Danny," Sam said, forcing cheer into her voice as she moved to take her seat. "What's up?"

"Not much," he whispered. Tucker slipped in the seat next to him.

"You alright?" Tucker asked. Danny took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I dunno," he muttered, and he rested his head in his arms.

"We've been messaging you all day yesterday," Sam brought up. Danny didn't reply. The announcement overhead began to make static noises before a voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Daniel Fenton to Dr. Spectra's office."

"Again?" Tucker questioned, raising an eyebrow before he studied Danny. "Dude, are things getting worse?"

"They get worse before they get better." Danny's smile was forced as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. He passed Mr. Lancer, muttering something his friends couldn't hear as he exited.

"Something's up," Tucker announced with a frown to Sam. The girl had been watching Danny closely, and she didn't even look back at him as she nodded.

"Do you think…," she spoke softly, "Do you think his depression's a lot worse than he's been letting on?" Tucker clenched his fists.

"No, Danny would tell us," he insisted. Sam gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"Tucker, that's like, one of the biggest signs and symptoms of depression. Pushing people away," she reminded him. She drummed her fingers on her desk, humming softly. "Maybe Mr. Masters visiting will help cheer him up. Danny's always in a super great mood when he's in town." Tucker grinned.

"Yeah, and we finally get to meet him," he replied. Sam smiled for a moment before it fell. She glanced at the door.

"I've never heard of somebody having three therapy sessions in such close succession." Tucker nodded in agreement. "I just...I wish Danny would talk about it. Like what's going on. What they talked about. What exactly made him so upset."

_"It should have been me. It's my fault. It's all my fault. Tucker died, and it's all my fault. I killed my best friend."_

_"From how Danny described it, you saved him from an absolutely miserable existence."_

_"You two have such a strong friendship. I hope you can survive this little bump in the road. Especially with how much trouble you put Danny through the last couple of weeks. He did describe Sam as being his closest friend."_

Tucker's hands gripped the sides of his desk.

"I know a way I can find out what they're talking about," he suddenly spoke up. Sam glanced at him before double taking at Tucker's glowing eyes. She gave a disapproving look.

"Tuck, that's an invasion of privacy," she lightly scolded. "Danny will open to us when he's ready." Tucker's eyes returned to normal, defeated.

"Sam, there's something just wrong with everything," he argued. "You said it yourself. He's been in her office three times already in barely two days. And when I talked to her...I dunno. She just rubbed me the wrong way. I can't describe it. Maybe she's a bad therapist." Sam looked skeptical.

"I dunno...I mean, it is really weird," she trailed off. Her eyes moved to stare at the floor as she absentmindedly began to braid a small section of her hair. Tucker nudged her upper arm, and she returned her gaze to him.

"You should schedule an appointment with her," he suggested. Sam stared at him. "And let me eavesdrop on in." Sam bit her lip. "It's for Danny."

"Why are you so sure that it's Dr. Spectra and not just Danny's mental health getting worse?" Tucker exhaled deeply.

"Man, I dunno, I just…"Tucker moved to lean against the back of his chair, his arms dangling to his sides as he slumped down. "Sam, I'm just worried, and I don't know what else to do."

"We be there for him," she told him. "We be there, let him know we care, and we stick through it with him. Look, we're all hanging out later today after school, Mr. Masters is going to be there, we can all work on homework together and jam out together. My cousin actually just recommended this new indie pop artist. You know how much Danny's always going on about commercialized music artists, I figured he'd love her."

"Oh, what artist?" Tucker questioned, raising an eyebrow. Sam pulled out her phone, pulling up her music app.

"Her name's Ember McLain. She's quickly becoming popular, but she's not quite there yet so Danny can be his hipster self and like her before she's the hottest pop sensation," Sam lightly joked. Tucker snorted in amusement as he looked at the album cover. The album was called RemEmber, featuring purple and blue and an incredibly pale, blue haired woman singing with a guitar on the front. She was pretty.

"Alright, alright. Cell phones away," Mr. Lancer's voice spoke over the eager chatter of homeroom. Sam slipped her phone into her pocket and turned to face the classroom. Danny did not return to homeroom.

* * *

"Do you think he left without us?" Sam asked worriedly as Tucker followed her to her locker. She began to quickly fiddle with her locker, but let go as Tucker put a hand out. He phased his hand into her locker and opened it for her. "Thanks."

"I hope not. He didn't show up to lunch. Or any classes," Tucker said, leaning against the lockers as Sam exchanged her items out. He pulled his phone out. No new messages from Danny. "Did he text you?" Sam shoved a book into her bag before pulling out her cell phone. She shook her head no. "Do you think he's still in Dr. Spectra's office?"

"Let's check," she suggested, and she shut her locker door. Tucker nodded, and they quickly walked towards the school psychologist's office. Sam paused. "Tucker. It's Thursday." Tucker stopped as well, looking back at her in confusion.

"Yeah? And?" Sam began to walk again, this time a bit slower.

"I thought Dr. Spectra was only here Mondays and Wednesdays." Tucker felt himself shiver a bit and his stomach knot up.

"Maybe she dropped by because of appointments," he suggested.

Sam didn't say anything as they approached the school offices. She stepped up to the front desk, resting her hands on the desk.

"Hey, is our friend Danny still with Dr. Spectra?" she questioned. The receptionist shook her head, pointing towards the nurse's office.

"No, he's with the nurse right now," she replied.

"What happened?" Tucker questioned. The receptionist shrugged.

"He came out of Dr. Spectra's office just looking awful, so we had him go sit down for a bit, and he passed out." Upon seeing their panic, she quickly added, "Oh he's fine though. We think he was just exhausted. We already called his parents, but they had some family things to take care of. They're on their way now."

"Can we go see him?" Sam asked. The receptionist held up a finger as she got up from her chair, shuffling over to the door. She opened it, poking her head inside and having a quiet, but brief, conversation before she opened the door further, moving and gesturing for the duo to go ahead on inside.

"Go ahead," she told them as she returned to her desk just as the phone began to ring. She picked it up, and Tucker and Sam eagerly rushed inside.

Their friend was laying on one of the beds, eyes half-closed and focused on the ceiling. Sam's eyes welled up with tears as she rushed for him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Danny, we were so worried about you!" she spoke, voice cracking a bit. Danny gave a half-smile, wrapping one of his arms around her in a half-hug.

"I'm fine. I was just...I was just so tired after seeing Dr. Spectra that I needed to sleep a bit," he confessed. Tucker grabbed a chair, pulling it up and sitting in it backwards.

"Dude, are you okay?" Tucker questioned. Danny shrugged.

"You know you can tell us anything, right?" Sam questioned, untangling herself from him. She also pulled up a chair, sitting in it normally. "How was your session with Dr. Spectra?" Danny shrugged once more, staring down at his boots.

"I…" Danny trailed off before shaking his head. "I dunno. I feel like she's not making me actually feel any better. I've never felt worse. I…" Danny plopped his head back against his pillow, staring up at the ceiling. Tucker reached out to pat his shoulder.

"You're not alone," he told him. "You got us, and Jazz, and your parents. Plus Mr. Masters. He's still coming today, right?" A warm, genuine smile.

"Yeah," Danny agreed, and he seemed to finally perk up. "You guys are still welcome to come out to eat with us. But only if you want."

"Of course we want to!" Tucker exclaimed. "And we wanna hang out afterwards, and still have that sleepover this weekend. You're our best friend." Danny looked relieved.

"So I'm...not intruding on you guys?" Sam frowned in confusion.

"Intruding?" she questioned. Danny flushed a bit.

"I mean, like intruding on you two having alone time, cause like, you know," he moved his hands as he talked, gesturing wildly as he tried to convey his feelings. Tucker immediately turned red as well, and Sam turned pink too. They glanced at each other.

"We're just best friends. Just like how we're best friends with you," Tucker insisted. "What ever gave you the idea that you're intruding?" Danny opened his mouth to speak but cut himself off. He grinned, looking over their shoulders. The not-couple glanced over to see a tall man in the doorway. He had long, dull black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, blue eyes and was dressed neatly in a fancy-looking, yet casual, suit. While Tucker had never met him before, he was immediately familiar to him from magazine cover and TV appearances. Vlad smiled warmly at them.

"Hello, little badger," he greeted.

Danny immediately shot up, leaping out of bed and past Tucker and Sam to hug the billionaire. He laughed, returning the hug and patting his back. Danny pulled away, looking at his friends.

"Guys, this is my Uncle Vlad. Vlad, these are my best friends, Sam and Tucker." Vlad nodded at them with a smile.

"It's great to finally meet you!" Sam chirped, hopping to her feet. She bounced up to him, putting a hand out to shake his. Vlad smiled, returning it.

"Nice to meet you two as well. Daniel talks about you two so much." he greeted them. He wrapped an arm around Danny's shoulders. "I heard that you two were going to tag along with us. Would you two like a ride over to FentonWorks?"

"Please!" Tucker agreed, standing up and eagerly pushing the chair back to it's normal spot. "I have so much to ask about Axion Labs!" Vlad chuckled.

"Well, Nico can tell you much more about Axion Labs than I could," he confessed. "I handle the business side, Nico is admittedly the genius behind most of the technology. The man can do incredible things with just a simple toolkit and some electrical wiring."

"Is Nico here?" Danny asked. He moved from Vlad's touch to grab his backpack from it's previous resting place next to the bed. Vlad nodded. "Is Jazz coming with?"

"Nico flew in with me. He's waiting in the car." Danny flashed a grin at Tucker. "But Jasmine said she drove here, so she'll meet us at home."

"Here's your chance, Tuck. Nico never shuts up," he told him.

"Daniel," Vlad scolded, opening the door to the nurse's station for the trio.

"Am I wrong?" Danny questioned. Vlad didn't reply, simply roll his eyes. "Exactly."

"There is a reason I handle the press conferences," Vlad admitted. He began to walk down the hallway, the trio following. Tucker sped up to walk next to him.

"Mr. Masters, I know you said Mr. Technus is the better person to ask, but I was still wondering if you know what kind of programs you used to power your devices?" he questioned. "It doesn't look like any pre-made one, it looks like it was made from scratch."

"Ah, yes. All technology that we use, we use as much of our own programs as possible. Most of what we use and write is based on the programs Nico's written," Vlad replied.

"Oh yeah! I heard that he wrote a program that's currently used now in forensics," Tucker spoke up, and he pushed one of the double doors to the school's entrance open, holding it open for his group. Vlad looked impressed, giving a nod.

"Indeed. Nico's program made it easier to keep digital forensic records," Vlad replied. "I'm sure if you bring it up to him, he'll pull out his laptop and show you it in detail." Tucker perked up at this.

"Really!? I really, really wanna get into computer forensics," Tucker confessed. Vlad smiled, patting his shoulder.

"You seem like a bright young man. I'm sure you'll do great," he replied. He motioned towards a car. "That's our ride."

A black man with long black hair, tied back in braids, was leaning against a limo. He was dressed in a suit similar to Vlad's, staring at his phone. He glanced up, and upon seeing the company, smiled and put the phone away in his pocket.

"Hey, Danny," he greeted. Danny waved.

"Hey, Nico!" he replied, and he gestured to his friends. "Nico, these are my best friends, Sam and Tuck. Guys, this is my Uncle Nico."

"It's great to meet you," Nico replied, and he held out his hand. Sam and Tucker both shook it. "Danny talks a lot about you, so I'm surprised it took us this long to meet. But then again, normally when Vlad and I come into town, we can't stay long. Or we take the family out for vacation, like we did over the summer. You remember that, Danny? We got to go to the NASA exhibit in Florida, and you went nuts when Vlad was able to get you backstage and got to touch moon rocks and all that other cool shit? And that little burger joint, oof. I-"

"Nico, let's get going," Vlad interrupted him. He opened the limo door, gesturing for the trio to go ahead and get in. "We have all weekend to talk, and you mustn't bore them before the conference."

"Oh, yeah. I'm hungry anyway," Nico agreed, and he slipped into the vehicle with them. Vlad entered last, shutting the door behind them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify before people question/bring it up: Vlad isn't half-ghost in this. It's a role-reversal based-AU, so the half-ghost antagonist is different in this one. I also apologize for the lack of...actual action here. This chapter feels very dialogue heavy, but it should pick up again next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

When Danny said that Nico could talk a lot, he certainly wasn't kidding. Even after picking up the rest of the Fenton family, Nico still was the main voice. He didn't really talk about anything of specific interest. He almost talked to just hear himself talk. Vlad had ignored him and requested their table at the restaurant. Jack and Maddie next to Vlad and Nico, with Danny at the head of the table. Tucker was on the other side, across from Nico, with Sam next to him and Jazz. He stayed silent long enough for everybody to order their drinks, but Vlad interrupted the other before he could begin once the waitress had left.

"Nico, instead of rambling about nothing, I think Mr. Foley had a question for you," he spoke, looking at the menu instead of his partner. Nico blinked.

"Oh?" he seemed surprised. Tucker smiled and gave a light wave from his spot across the table at him.

"Yeah! I have lots of questions about some of the programs you wrote," Tucker began. "And some of the technology you developed. I heard you're one of the best in the world."

"Nico's got a natural talent for technology," Jack spoke up. Nico grinned at the praise. "He actually did most of the electrical wiring for the ghost portal prototype we made in college! The blueprints for the portal that we came up with are heavily based on the improvements and engineering Nico did."

"Really?" Sam questioned. Jazz was giving a small scowl at all the ghost talk, hiding her face behind the menu.

"Oh yeah! Jack, Vlad and I couldn't get the damned thing to work to save our lives," Maddie sighed at the memory. "Jack and I were ectobiologist majors, and Vlad's major was business. Not engineers. But Vlad knew Nico from their student club, and he convinced him to come help us out. He took the prototype portal to his dorm, and he brought it to Jack and Vlad's dorm the next day, working perfectly."

"What was wrong with it?" Danny questioned. Nico grinned.

"I had to clean out their filter. It had diet cola in it," Nico said, and Jack visibly flustered a bit. Tucker could only assume that the diet cola was his mistake. "And basically rebuild most of the structure to get it to wire and work properly. Gave me one hell of a nasty shock, but my engineering professor let me just use the portal as my final project for his class. I'm surprised you two were able to get your new portal going yourselves," Nico teased. "I was expecting a phone call asking me to fly out and fix a second portal." Maddie rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Not gonna lie, we were about to," she admitted. "But we were able to deduce that we never properly hooked it up to the power source." Nico burst into laughter.

"How the hell did you two get funding to build that portal," Nico asked, but stated it as a joke. He glanced over the menu. "I already know what I want."

Tucker sat up straight as he felt a strong tingling in the back of his head. Spidey-sense.

"I need to use the restroom," he suddenly announced. Sam and Danny stole a glance at him. He gave a slight nod before excusing himself.

He fast-walked to the restroom. He opted for the family restroom, going inside and immediately going ghost. Tucker turned invisible and flew outside of the restaurant. There, in the parking lot, he saw the ghosts. Three oversized green, glowing rats, the side of a golden retriever, were running through the parking lot. They kept darting into cars, staying briefly before exiting and switching. Tucker narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he chased them.

"Hey!" he yelled. To his surprise, he was ignored in favor of rapid scurrying to another car. He continued to follow them. "HEY!"

Again, they ignored him. They finally came to a stop in a free parking space. They were on their hind claws, talking.

"I keep telling you, this must be the wrong place!" one of them argued.

"No, they must be here!" the other insisted. "This is where they were supposed to be!"

"Why are we even following them around? Let's just go to their house and wait for them to come home!" the third grumbled.

"I agree! Let's just ask for directions to the house!"

"Hey!" Tucker yelled once more. They all glanced at him.

"Let's ask him!" one spoke. Tucker stared.

"Ask me _what?_ "

"No! I'm sure I know where it is!" the other argued. The other stared intently at him. The first rat sighed, and he scampered over to Tucker on all fours, standing back on two when he reached him. Tucker slowly descended to stand on the blacktop.

"We are on a search and destroy mission," the rat began. Tucker immediately winced a bit. "Do you have any idea where FentonWorks is?"

"FentonWorks? Like, Jack and Maddie Fenton?" Tucker was bewildered.

"Ha! Told ya he'd be able to tell you where it was!" Tucker narrowed his eyes, and he threw a punch at the ghost rat. The rat was able to dodge it.

"Big mistake, kid."

The rat launched for him. Tucker grabbed him by the fur and swung around, throwing him at one of his friends, sending the two toppling away. The third ran for him, being deflected by a strong kick.

"I got things to do," Tucker said simply. He reached for the thermos on his belt loop, unhooking it and uncapping it. He aimed it for the two he sent away first, sucking them up before sucking up the third. He recapped it, frowning. Why did they want the Fentons?

* * *

"So, don't think you're off the hook, Mr. Fenton," Sam lightly scolded Danny as she closed his bedroom door behind her. The adults (and Jazz, who thought herself to be an adult) chatting loudly downstairs were now heavily muffled. Tucker had already claimed the computer chair as his seat, Danny immediately sprawling out on his bed.

"Whatcha mean?" the goth asked lazily as he rolled onto his stomach, grabbing a pillow to tuck under his chest. Sam went to her favorite spot, an oversized bean bag, getting cozy.

"Dr. Spectra," she said bluntly. "What's up with her?" Danny sighed, burying his face into his pillow for a moment.

"I just...I dunno if she's helping," he explained, voice muffled before he raised his head to meet his friends' curious gazes. "I never feel any better after talking to her. I...I actually feel kinda worse." He sighed. "When I leave her office, I feel so freaking, like, just, drained, ya know? Today I was actually just so tired from our session that I needed a nap."

"I mean...Jazz did say that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better," Sam said slowly, but she didn't sound convinced.

"But also, isn't it common to like, therapist shop?" Tucker spoke up. "Maybe she's just not the right therapist for you, man."

Tucker exchanged a glance with Sam, who was stealing a look from him. They were both burning to ask the same question, and they were silently debating who would be the one to actually bring it up. After an unspoken exchange, Sam was the one who asked.

"Danny...what kind of things are you two talking about?" Sam asked. Danny was quiet for a while.

"Well...we talked a lot about my depression and my hospital stay over the summer," he said slowly. Tucker felt guilt knotting up in his stomach. "I...I brought up...the guilt." Danny was focused on picking at a loose thread on his bed. "How...how much I think about it and just that...like just how much it weighs me down. And we talked about how it was my fault and-"

"NO," Tucker immediately half-yelled. Danny jumped a bit, staring at him, Sam joining him. "Danny, it's not your fault." Danny bit his lower lip.

"Tucker's right," Sam backed him up. "It's not your fault at all. You have no reason to blame yourself or think that you're at fault for this."

"B-but I-I," Danny's voice was wavering hard. "I told Tucker go inside to fix it. Dr. Spectra agreed that I-"

"You know what, Dr. Spectra's full of shit if she's telling you that you're to blame for something she can't even fully understand," Sam cut him off, making a face. "What else has she told you?" Danny shifted, a bit uncomfortable.

"Uh…" he took a few moments to collect his thoughts and himself. When he spoke, his voice seemed to have steadied a bit. "I brought up you two, and she said that you guys just...sounded like the sweetest couple. And we talked a bit, and I...I brought up how I don't really like anybody, like I don't have any crushes or anything. And like, s-she a-asked how much of a third wheel I felt like with you guys, and I-I honestly really don't, but by the time we finished talking, I just really began to feel that way. It's just so hard to explain, but I just...I don't think she's making me feel any better. I have an appointment with her next week."

"I'm not sure if you should be seeing her," Tucker blurted out. "I think you should find a new therapist. Something's off about her. My session with her was weird too. Like, I walked away with it feeling just...off and terrible." Danny looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Tucker nodded.

"Y-yeah, just...I walked away feeling as if you thought that I was a terrible person, and that now that I'm…" Tucker didn't say the words, but his friends both gave a slight knowing nod. "That you both just...wouldn't want to hang with me anymore."

"That's crazy!" Sam exclaimed. "We love being around you."

"Yeah!" Danny quickly added. "You're our best friend. The half-ghost thing is quite honestly the coolest shit I've ever seen. No matter what happened to you, you'd always be our friend." A sense of relief washed over Tucker, and he grinned.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"Dr. Spectra sounds like a hack," Sam announced. "I agree with Tucker. I don't think you should see her next week."

"Yeah, we can help you find a new therapist," Tucker agreed. Danny gave a small smile.

"I'm...sure Jazz probably can help me find something too," he replied. He shifted, moving to pull himself so he sat cross legged on his bed, hugging the pillow. "But enough of that. Did you get the ghost from earlier?"

Tucker nodded, and he moved to pull the thermos from his backpack. He held it up for his friends to see.

"I'll sneak down and empty it before I go," he promised. "But there was something weird about the encounter. Like, it was three ghost rats, like really big ones, and they were...like...dude, they were looking for your parents." Danny gave him a weird look.

"My parents?" he echoed. "My parents hunt ghosts."

"Well, would make sense for a ghost want to hunt them then, I guess?" Sam shrugged. Danny shot her a brief Look. "Hey, it makes sense is all I'm saying!"

"Did they say anything as to why?" Danny asked. Tucker shook his head no.

"Nah, man. They were just confused on where to find them before I caught them," he replied. Danny frowned.

"That kinda sounds like they were just kind of hired goons," Danny replied.

"Yeah, I was going to say something like that, that they sounded like they weren't doing it because they had a personal grudge. But what ghost would have a grudge against your parents?" Sam asked. Danny shrugged. "I mean, besides in general. Your parents do hunt and study them."

"My parents have never really properly caught a ghost, just been able to collect samples," Danny frowned. "So I'm not sure what ghost would send somebody after them."

"Maybe a human sent them?" Tucker suggested. His friends gave him an odd look. "I mean, isn't it more likely that your parents have human rivals? Like maybe fellow ghost hunters or something?"

"Yeah, but why would they work with ghosts if they're fellow ghost hunters?" Sam questioned.

"I dunno. Maybe it's kind of like a buddy cop thing where they team up with criminals to catch a bigger criminal?"

"Ma...y...be?" Sam seemed unsure. She groaned as a ringtone played out. "I think I have to go," she grumbled, reaching into her pocket for a pastel purple and green phone. "Mm, yup." She answered the call. "Hey, Mom...I'm at Danny's…" A long, annoyed sighed. "Yeah, Mom. I'm fine...Yes I know you how feel about the Fentons...Yeah, Tucker's here too...Mom stop...Mo-om!...Mom it's not that late...Yes ma'am...I'll be home soon, I'm out the door now...Mmm love you too. Bye Mom." Sam groaned in annoyance as she hung up. "It's not even eight!" she complained. "But I gotta go."

"Yeah, I should probably get home too before it's too late," Tucker mused, glancing at his watch.

"Wanna walk together?" Sam questioned, standing up as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. Tucker waved a hand.

"Nah, I should empty the ghosts into the Ghost Zone before I go. Gonna exit then just sneak back inside as Tucker Ghouly. I have three rat ghosts and Sidney in here, and I don't want it to like, overflow or something," he explained.

"Sounds good," Sam replied cheerfully, going to the door. "I'll text you guys when I'm home. Bye!"

"If you can afford to stick around, I can fly you home," Tucker offered.

"I'll take a rain check until you stop flying into billboards," she teased. Tucker flushed red.

"One time!" he cried out.

"You will never live it down," Sam chuckled, and Danny snickered as the nerd opened the door, stepping outside and leaving the door open as she went down the stairs. The boys could hear her give a cheerful goodbye to the Fentons and their guests before the front door opening and closing faintly.

"...Hey Tuck?" Danny broke a silence. Tucker turned his attention to him, giving a "hm?" to acknowledge him. "...I'm not intruding on you and Sam, right?" Tucker shook his head, and he moved to scoot the computer chair closer to him.

"Dude, Sam and I are just friends. Your friends," he assured him, giving a smile. "And if, for whatever reason, Sam and I do hook up, or if Sam and I hook up with other people, that will never mean that you're not still our friend. You're our best friend. We love hanging out with you. Getting a girlfriend's not going to change that." Danny seemed visibly relieved. "Look, whatever Dr. Spectra's been telling you, it's crap. She's a bad therapist. Sam and I care a lot about you, and we're going to be there for you no matter what." Danny grinned.

"You guys are the best," he told him.

"Damn right we right," Tucker joked, rolling backwards a bit in the chair. He stood up from it. "Alright, I'm gonna make my exit then Tucker Ghouly's gonna break in and empty the ghosts," he replied. "See you tomorrow, man."

"Later!" Danny chirped. He stood up from the bed. "I'll go down with you, I'm gonna hang out with Vlad for a bit."

"Cool." Tucker and Danny shuffled down the stairs together. "Bye Mr. Fenton, Mrs. Fenton!" Tucker called out as he went to the front door. He poked his head into the living room as Danny passed him to go inside. The adults (and Jazz) were drinking coffee and tea and chatting, minus Nico. Tucker could only assume that he was already in the guest bedroom, sleeping. "You too, Jazz. Great meeting you Mr. Masters."

"Oh, bye Tucker!" Maddie replied with a light wave. "Walk home, safe."

"Good to meet you," Vlad replied politely. The others said their polite goodbyes as Tucker slipped outside.

The teen walked a block before ducking into an alleyway. After a quick change, he flew back. He invisibly went through the front door. He could hear the family still chatting casually before he went towards the basement door. Tucker phased through the ceiling of the lab, and stopped abruptly, completely taken aback by the sight before him.

A ghost. It was a green-skinned ghost with a shaved undercut but long, braided snow-white hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was in a black lab coat, black boots and a white cape and matching white gloves, staring at the portal with sunglassed eyes. Intently, as if studying it, and mumbling to himself. Tucker couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Going in or out?"

"This is grown-up business, kid. Run along," he replied, not even removing his attention from his focus; the portal. The ghost put out a hand to touch it, running it down the side until he came to a closed electrical box. He popped it open.

"What are you doing?"

The ghost snapped his attention to him, peering over his sunglasses at him. Tucker could see red eyes staring at him, and he felt a light chill at the ghost slowly grew an interested smirk as he seemed to almost recognize him.

"Oh, I've been graced by the presence of the great Tucker Ghouly," he said almost mockingly. Tucker winced. He turned his full body towards him, ignoring the portal.

"You...you know me?" Tucker hesitantly asked, clutching the thermos tighter in his hands. The ghost laughed heartily as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Know you?" The ghost once more looked over his sunglasses at the other, eyes sparkling. "Of course I know you."

The ghost jerked forward a bit, floating closer. Tucker floated back a bit, but soon stopped. No, he had to stand his ground. He stared up as the ghost came closer and closer until he was right in front of him, looking down.

"You're the little ghost boy who uses his powers for goooood," he teased, giving a small snicker. He leaned down so he was eye-level with Tucker for a moment. He felt a nervous sweatdrop forming as the ghost stared intensely at him before giving a sharp-toothed grin. "How quaint." He stood straight again, floating back a bit. Tucker exhaled a breath he didn't realize he had been keeping in, but stiffened as the ghost began to circle him. He gave a hum, looking over his sunglasses at the thermos. "So, aren't you going to try and shove me into your ridiculous thermos?" Tucker winced.

"I...No," Tucker replied, clutching it tighter as he held it to his chest protectively. "I...I'm just dropping something off. I don't wanna fight you," he replied. The ghost chuckled.

"No. No you don't." The ghost floated lazily backwards, again towards the portal. For a foolish moment, Tucker assumed it was over. The ghost was doing his work for him by going into the Ghost Zone, and he'd soon be free to empty the thermos. He gave another toothy grin, a larger one. He uncrossed his arms, holding his fists up. They began to glow a bright green, and Tucker stared intently. He fired an ectoblast at him. Tucker scrambled, managing to dodge.

"Whoa!" Tucker panicked. The ghost laughed with amusement, shooting again. His hands jerked as the thermos was ripped from his hands, clanking noises echoing as it tumbled towards the back of the lab.

"You can't even do ectoblasts yet, child?" he asked. Tucker glanced at his hands. Could he do that? He hurriedly lifted his hands to the other ghost, palms facing him and beginning to sweat anxious bullets as he tried to force a ghost power he didn't even realize was a possibility. The ghost laughed harder at his attempts. "What's the matter, whippersnapper?" The ghost moved his hands to finger guns, chuckling at he shot at him with the index fingers in a flurry of bullet-sized blasts. Tucker couldn't dodge them all, his reflexes tested as he avoided what he could. Each hit stung and burned. He had to pull himself together.

Tucker rushed at the ghost to throw a punch. Smack! Tucker flinched in pain as his fist made contact with a solid green shield. He stared at the ghost through the transparent color, wide-eyed.

"How are you doing this?" Tucker gasped, pulling his hand back and grabbing the wrist.

"Years, and years of practice and experiments," the ghost smirked at him, his voice beginning to echo as a copy of the ghost appeared off to the left of him. Tucker turned sharply to see properly. Anxiety rose as he noticed a third copy further to the left, almost behind him. He spun, noticing a fourth. They closed in.

Tucker screamed at all four fired blasts at him, and by the time it was over, he had fallen face-first to the floor. Tucker pulled himself to his elbows, looking up at the ghost through blurred vision. He couldn't tell if the ghost pulled his duplicates back to him or not before he slowly rested his head back on the floor, and his eyes closed, falling unconscious. The second he did, his rings travelled over him, and he turned back. The ghost's face dropped in complete shock.

He stood on the floor of the lab, kneeling near the fallen human. He nudged at Tucker, humming curiously.

"So the Foley boy...is the new ghost running around town," he mused to himself, giving a malicious grin as he knelt next to him. He stood straight as black rings transformed him, revealing Nico. "Well...for once I'm speechless."

* * *

Tucker woke up with a jerked startle. His heart was racing, and he felt sweaty. He blinked, looking around in the dark and felt around for his phone. He found it nearby him, and he glanced at the time. It was two in the morning, and he had several missed messages from his friends. Where was he?

He used the flashlight to light up the area around him as he sat up. He was in his room. In his bed, still in his clothes from the day prior. When did he come home? The last thing he remembered…

Tucker shivered as he remembered the ghost from the night prior. Who was he? He was so powerful...so much more powerful than any other ghost he had ever met. It scared him. Was he supposed to be able to do all of those cool other things too? Was it even real? It had to be real. But if it was real, why did he let him live? He surely had to turn back when he became human. How and why would a ghost take him home? Or was he just hit so hard that he just didn't remember waking up and walking home?

He laid back, closing his eyes. He shifted to put his phone back on the nightstand. He'd...message his friends back later and figure it out in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some brief clarification for the confused: I made Technus the half-ghost arch enemy in this. This is going to be because it'll make a lot more narrative sense later on considering how I've changed the roles of the main trio. Vlad's role in this story is basically being like Sam's grandma for Danny: The cool relative that helps him get away with stuff and that he can confide in. Also...I'm so sorry for all the lack of action...it should pick up soon...pls don't leave, I'm trying to build up to it and set up a lot of stuff.


	5. Chapter 5

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

Where was the thermos!?

Tucker frantically continued to dig through his bedsheets. Did he fall asleep with it? His dresser drawers were torn apart and a mess. The half-ghost himself was ready for school, but he still couldn't find that damn thermos.

"Tucker! Let's go! You're going to be late!" his mother called for the millionth time downstairs. Tucker scowled.

"I'm co- _oming_!" he yelled back. He threw his hands up in surrender at nobody. He'd have to find it later. He grabbed his backpack and an extra bag, packed with sleepover items, and hurried down the stairs.

"But Mom, I'm too old to carry a Barbie lunchbox!" his sister's voice was whining as he came down the stairs. "And I'm too old for twin buns! Can't I just get my hair straightened so that it'd look like the other girls'?"

"Absolutely not, your hair is beautiful and you should be proud of it," his mom scolded her. "And we've discussed this. I haven't had time to go get a new lunchbox, we'll go this weekend. Just take the Barbie one for today."

"But Moo _oom_!"

"Olivia, not now!" Angela sounded tired and irritated. "TUCKER!"

"I'm here!" Tucker half-yelled back as he hit the bottom stairs. His mom sighed, handing him their lunchboxes.

"You're running late!" she scolded. Tucker forced himself to take a short breath before replying to avoid snapping back. "Get a move on, you two!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he apologized, accepting both lunchboxes. Olivia scowled angrily, and she opened the door, slamming it shut behind her. Angela's eyes flashed angrily, and she immediately stormed to the door, opening it quickly.

"Olivia Nahed Foley, we will be discussing your attitude when you get home!" she yelled after her before giving an exhaustive sigh. Tucker gave a small smile as he slipped by her.

"I'll talk to her," he offered to her. He pecked her cheek. "Bye, Mom." Angela seemed to soften.

"Have a good day at school baby," she told him. Tucker smiled and began to rush off after Olivia to walk with her.

He soon caught up to her, and he realized just how fast and angry Olivia seemed. Tucker kept pace with her.

"Hey, you okay?" Tucker questioned. Olivia scowled, refusing to look up at him.

"I'm fine," she muttered, and she kicked a rock.

"Are you sure? You seem-"

"I'm fine!" Olivia snapped. Tucker handed her her lunchbox, only to be ignored.

"Don't you want your lunchbox?" he questioned.

"I'm too OLD for a Barbie lunchbox!" she yelled. Tucker reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"Liv, what is up with you?" he demanded to know.

"Tucker, I'm just!" she growled in frustration as she was forced to stop in her tracks. Her hands gripped the straps of her backpack tightly as she stared at the ground. "I'm not a baby anymore."

"Well, you need to eat lunch," Tucker said, and he handed her his lunchbox. "Just take mine, okay?" Olivia stared at the lunchbox, and her shoulders slouched heavily, face falling exhaustively as she took it.

"...Thanks," her voice came out in a light whisper. Tucker wrapped his arm around her in a sidehug, keeping his arm in place as they began to walk again.

"You're not too old for a Barbie lunchbox. If you like it, you should carry it," Tucker assured her, giving her a light squeeze. Olivia clutched both hands on the handle of Tucker's lunchbox in front of her.

"But I'm almost thirteen. Should I upgrade to something more...adult? Like a normal print?"

"Aw, Liv, it's your life," he assured her. "You should do what you want. Who even told you that you're too old anyway?"

"...My school psychologist told me that clinging onto childhood likes can harm your experiences as an adult." Tucker frowned, but he didn't have time to comment. They reached his friends and where they'd normally break off. Olivia quickly slipped from his arm. "Bye Tucker!"

"Uh, Tuck? I think you and Olivia accidentally switched lunchboxes," Danny immediately pointed out. Tucker glanced at the Barbie lunchbox in his grasp.

"Long story," he explained before he grinned. The trio began to walk across the street and continue down towards their school. "I'm ready for the convention tomorrow though. I'm already packed and everything." He held up his second bag. He noticed that Sam had one too.

"I'm so ready!" Sam chirped happily. "I really, really wanna know more about those ghost plants."

"I was reading over the schedule, and I found out that there's a ghost researcher that's going to give a lecture on how to safely urban explore! We have to go," Danny insisted. "I still want us all to go do that this Halloween."

"But that's when it'd be the spookiest," Sam fake-complained teasingly. Danny chuckled.

"Not as scary as that lunchbox," Danny continued teasing, jerking his thumb to Tucker's Barbie lunchbox. "Is the long story that you wanted a proper excuse to ditch us and follow her again?" Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Nah. Olivia's been in this mood lately where she keeps saying she's too old for her old stuff. She and Mom fought earlier about taking the lunchbox to school, and it just seemed easier to switch with her," Tucker explained. Sam cocked her head curiously.

"That's so unlike Olivia," she said. "She's one of the most confident girls I know. I've seen her win arguments and such against Jazz, what's got her so ruffled?"

"I dunno man," Tucker sighed. "There's just so much changing lately. Dad's got a new job, new school year, and...ya know, the ghosts thing. I don't know how to keep up with it all."

Sam was quiet for a while, pressing a crosswalk sign as they all came to a stop, waiting for the light to turn.

"...Has Olivia talked to Dr. Spectra?" she questioned. "She works at her school too, right?" Tucker stared blankly at her.

"Uh, I think?" he tried to think back on if she did or not. "I know she spoke to her, but I don't know if she had like, an appointment or something. Why?" Danny glanced between the two, thinking as well.

"Cause like...I dunno," she shrugged her shoulders, glancing at the ground a bit nervously as she lightly swung her sleepover bag. "It's gonna sound so crazy but…" Danny began to study their friend.

"...Are you...thinking that Dr. Spectra may be a ghost?" Danny asked slowly. Sam nodded.

"Just cause, you know," she quickly began to talk. The light turned, and she hurriedly began to cross it, her friends following her. The second her foot hit the sidewalk on the other side, she continued. "She doesn't...really seem to be making things better. And just, with the whole ghosts thing...God it sounds really stupid, forget it."

"No!" Tucker spoke suddenly. Sam glanced at him as they walked. "...I think you're onto something." Sam visibly brightened a bit. "Cause...I keep thinking it's just the static electricity in the room, but...I keep getting that feeling."

"Your spidey sense?" Danny questioned.

"Yeah, and I've just been, like, brushing it off because I keep getting shocked in the room-"

"Yeah, me too," Sam interrupted. Danny nodded.

"But what it's it not static electricity. What if...what if I've been sensing something?"

"How do...how do we find out?" Danny asked. Tucker glanced at Sam. Sam winced a bit before giving a soft sigh and nodding.

* * *

Black lines ran down Sam's cheeks as she left the psychologist's office. She had a tissue in her hands, wiping the tears away best she could, black smears staining her cheeks. Dr. Spectra seemed as cheerful as ever, hand on her shoulder and she lightly patted it.

"It gets a bit worse before it gets better, dear," she assured her. "I'll see you next week, alright?" Sam forced a smile.

"Thanks, Dr. Spectra," she managed to croak out, sniffling as she went down the hallway. Dr. Spectra smiled, giving a cheerful wave before going back into her office, shutting the door.

Tucker sat invisible in the air, cross legged, staring intently. Once alone, Spectra sighed happily. A mist of glowing blue energy began to swirl around her. Taking in a deep breath, she ushered it towards her. It faded into her skin, and Tucker's eyes widened. She exhaled happily, shifting to sit in her chair, crossing her legs and leaning back.

A green blob phased through the floor. It shifted and transformed into a familiar form: the assistant he had seen earlier. The man frowned at her the second he finished his shapeshifting.

"Why are you wasting all your time on these stupid teenagers when we have bigger plans at the other school?" he questioned. Dr. Spectra hummed. "Especially the Fenton kid?"

"The Fenton boy is just a waterfall of misery. It's delicious!" she declared with a disturbingly peppy chirp to her voice. "All that angst and guilt, the depression, the self-harming, it's just too irresistible, Bertrand."

"You need to be more careful," her assistant warned. The ghost began to float, and he drifted towards her. "You made him pass out last time." Dr. Spectra waved her hand dismissively.

"I'm giving him a break," she scoffed. "Don't worry about it." She glanced over her glasses at him, smirking. "You just worry about making the preparations while I handle the small fry."

Bertrand sighed, but nodded.

"I don't have much more to do," he assured her. "We should be ready to go in a week or two." Dr. Spectra hummed, checking her nails before standing up.

"Good," she replied. "Now, let's go and get some coffee before my next appointments. That elderly man at the coffee shop just has so much misery and regret, it's fun to pick at."

She scooted around her desk, holding her hand out to Bertrand. The man smiled, taking it. They squeezed their hands together as he morphed back into a blob. Grasping their other hands together, they phased through the wall and left the room.

Tucker worriedly turned visible a few moments after they left, slowly moving to the ground and stepping foot on the rug. He stared at where they had left.

"You are a ghost," he whispered to himself in a frightened awe.

* * *

"We need to get rid of her, now," Danny instantly blurted out the second Tucker finished his story. The trio were outside with some other students at the picnic benches, eating.

"I didn't fully get what you guys meant by how she was bad until I saw her, and God, it just makes so much more sense I can't believe I was right," Sam stressed, grabbing onto her hair and pulling it a bit anxiously. "I told her all about my mom!"

"Tucker, you need to go and get her now!" Danny almost exclaimed. Tucker winced.

"I...I can't," he said slowly, and he stared at his food instead of looking at his friends. "I...I have no clue where the thermos is."

"You lost it already!?" Danny gawked at him. Tucker opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and put his hand to his head. Did he? Was the night before even a reality?

"I don't think I lost it?" Tucker was clearly unsure. He looked back up. Sam was still looking a bit freaked out over having spoken to a ghost about her personal issues, while Danny looked irritated, scowling. "There was this ghost I encountered last night. In your basement," he explained. Danny's face instantly dropped. "He actually knocked me out? I think? The encounter was so...weird, I can't...I think it was a dream? But I'm not sure? My body still hurts as if we fought, but I woke up at home. I remember him so clearly, and the conversation and passing out and everything leading up to passing out, but I woke up at home."

"What happened in my basement?" All annoyance was dropped, and Sam finally began to pay close attention to the situation too. She took a deep breath before eating a few chips as she listened.

"So I went into the lab, and there was this ghost. He looked like an old mad scientist, and he had this green skin and white hair, and red eyes, and he was just, hanging out," Tucker began. "Like, no, he was studying the ghost portal I think. He didn't want to fight me. He told me to basically go away, but I asked him what he was doing, and…" Tucker trailed off with a shudder. A realization hit him, and it cause his stomach to knot up as his blood ran cold.

"What?" Sam questioned.

"He _knew_ me," he whispered. "He knew me. He knew me as a ghost boy that used his powers for good. He knew about the thermos. He...guys he _knew me_. He knew my name and what I do. What I've been doing."

Danny frowned, biting his lip. Sam reached into her backpack, pulling out a notebook. She flipped to a blank page, digging for a pen before beginning to scrawl out notes.

"Okay. We really do need to keep a track record of all of this," Sam declared. "So, this ghost knew you upon sight, first one so far to recognize you," she spoke mostly to herself as she took notes.

"But how can he recognize me?" Tucker blurted out. "I've barely existed as Tucker Ghouly. How can my name spread so far already?"

"Let's get back to that in a bit," Danny interrupted. "What happened after he recognized you?" Tucker thought for a moment.

"He began using these cool powers, these powers I've never seen before. Have never imagined doing. Like these superhero blasts and shields and duplication and it was honestly so goddamn cool. He knocked me out, and next thing I remember...I was in bed," Tucker explained, slumping in his seat. "I didn't have the thermos, couldn't find it. I looked all over my room. I don't know if it's still in your basement or if he took it or what."

"We'll look this weekend," Danny assured him. "And if nothing else, my parents should have more. We'll just take another one. No big."

"No big? There's a ghost out there with a thermos, how is that no big deal?" Sam questioned. She immediately flushed a bit at her statement before ducking her head down and continuing to write notes. "Uh...let's get back to Spectra. I wrote some stuff down on her, and am I just going to assume we're waiting till Monday to deal with her?"

"Yeah, no other choice," Danny sighed.

"But what's her big plan?" Tucker asked aloud. "She mentioned that she and her creepy assistant had plans. What are they? We need to make sure they're not going to go off or activate even with them gone."

"Maybe we should look around in her office," Sam suggested. "Do some investigating?"

"We do, we need to really get some research done this weekend. We can probably find some time after the convention day ends this weekend," Danny replied.

"Actually," Sam's eyes sparkled. "We could do a lot of research there! There's probably all sorts of great things to learn! I'll bring my camera so I can take pictures and videos, and this weekend I'll organize all of the information I collect, and we can go from there. This is such a good opportunity to pick up on things that could really help us."

"Eh, enough about ghost stuff for a while," Danny waved his hand dismissively. "I finally listened to the Ember chick you guys told me about. She's not really that commercialized, I like her. I actually downloaded her music today."

"She has a concert coming up!" Sam perked up. "I bought us all tickets to it already, actually. I wanted to make sure we got them before they sold out. She's becoming a huge hit quickly." Danny gave a slight frown.

"I hope she doesn't become another industrialized pop garbage can," he complained. Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Just enjoy the music, man," Sam complained. "Do you think she's too popular to possibly ask her to come and play at the Homecoming dance?" Danny gave a long, exaggerated groan.

"Oh come on, Sam. Don't tell me you're turning into one of those girls that's going to be obsessed with dances and getting some dude to ask her out," he whined.

"What's wrong with liking to dance?" Sam demanded to know. "Or wanting a guy to ask me out to one?" Danny huffed.

"Nothing, it's just...well what's the point?" he scowled. "It's high school. High school relationships just don't last that long, and we got bigger things to worry about. Like college, or in our case, ghost-hunting."

"No reason we can't take a break and have a day off every now and then," Tucker defended Sam. "I mean, Homecoming's going to come up on us quickly. We should start seeing who we wanna ask out."

"Nobody," Danny replied firmly. "I don't really want to go on a date. I'll go with a group of friends, but dating's overrated."

"Suit yourself," Sam replied. She smiled dreamily as she shifted to put her head in her hands. "I just think it'd be sooo great to spend the dance with a boyfriend, you know? We could get dinner beforehand, and afterwards we can just roam the park and talk the night away while watching the stars." The more she spoke, the more far-away Sam's expression seemed to go as she daydreamed of her prince charming. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Sam, we're fourteen," Danny told her, voice deadpanning. "None of us have any money, and our curfew is ten. There's no way that you're going to get anything better than the Nasty Burger dollar menu and a quick handshake goodbye before your parents pick you up from the dance soon as it ends because there's chaperones everywhere." Sam made a face at him.

"It could happen when we're like, sophomores or something!" she argued, giving a small pout. "But come on. You gotta admit, it'd be so cool if Ember came to our dance and performed and then later on she's like, an international star!"

"Hey Foul-ly!" Sam gasped in surprise as Tucker's face was slammed into the table. Danny immediately began to stand up, growling protectively. Tucker felt a tight grip on the back of his head, keeping him to the table. "What's with the Barbie? When are you going to grow up and get a big-boy lunch box?"

"Fuck off, Dash," Danny snapped. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Danny get pushed back, tumbling back over the picnic seat and onto the grass.

"Get off me!" Tucker scowled, beginning to squirm under the grip.

"Or what? Your weird freaky friend's not here to protect you!"

"Get back from him, you big bully!"

Tucker could hear people beginning to run, a few crying out in fright. The grip on his head loosened, but didn't let go completely. But it was enough for him to pry himself out of Dash's grip, half-scooting, half-tripping down the seat of the table before fumbling out. Tucker looked up to see Sidney, looking distressed but furious at the same time.

"Sidney!" Danny gasped, and Sam quickly stood up from her seat, growing pale.

"Oh fuck this," Dash cursed, backing up a bit. He glanced to his sides, and upon realizing his friends had already abandoned him, he turned and ran for the school.

"So the bullies are getting bullied," Sidney grumbled. "It's about time you saw justice."

"Dash has been kicking my ass my whole life," Tucker informed him, standing up straight. He looked around, and he noticed the school yard had become deserted. A flash of light, and two rings appeared to transform him.

"You're no different that the other halfa! Nothing but a big bully that takes advantage of the humans and bullies the ghosts!" Sidney scowled. Tucker froze.

"Other...what?" Danny questioned. Sidney looked at him puzzled, as if the information was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Halfa. Halfa human, halfa ghost," he explained. Tucker's mouth felt dry and excitement began to rush through him.

"There's another?" he asked quickly. Sidney scowled at him.

"Why should I tell you a bully anything?" he asked back hotly. He raised his hands. Abandoned school supplies began to float, rushing towards the trio. "Why should I do anything nice for people who hurt me so much!?"

Tucker rushed for his friends, grabbing their upper arms. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating hard. He felt Danny shiver hard in his grasp, and Sam soon do the same as they both turned intangible. A rush of pencils and sharply folded papers went right through them. Tucker grabbed onto them tighter, picking them up and flying them back into the school.

The three tumbled into a dark room, immediately feeling crowded.

"Ow!" Sam cried out. "Somebody's on my hair!"

"I think that's me, sorry!" Danny apologized.

Light filled what appeared to be a janitor's closet, Danny's hand resting on the light switch. He lifted a foot so that Sam could sit up. She began smoothing out her hair and pulling herself to her feet. Tucker did the same as he transformed back.

"Tucker, you gotta go get him! He's going to destroy the school!" Sam pleaded. Tucker threw up his hands.

"How!? I can't beat him permanently in a fight, I'm not that strong yet! And I don't know where the thermos is!"

"Were you able to release Sidney back into the Ghost Zone before you passed out?" Danny questioned. Tucker shook his head.

"No, the other dude must have let him out, and-and Sidney just came right back." Tucker sighed heavily, resting his back against the wall. "We gotta find another thermos."

"Do your parents have another one?" Sam asked Danny hopefully. Danny sighed, shrugging.

"I honestly don't know, I'll have to look. I think if nothing else, I can try to make a new one, cause like, I know the prog-" He jumped as he was interrupted by the bell, signaling the period being over. "I know the program, and I can probably just remake it. I'll see what I can come up with if I can't find anything."

"In the meantime, I'm going to keep my eye out for that one ghost. He's obviously powerful, and we need to be super careful of him," Tucker replied. He opened the door to the closet for his friends to exit, following after them to class.

* * *

"Mom? We're home," Danny called out as he opened the door to his home. Tucker and Sam came in after them. Sam shut the door behind her, locking it for them. "Jazz said she'll be home later, she's doing nerd stuff at the library."

"Alright!" Maddie's voice echoed distantly. Tucker could hear her walking up the stairs, and the basement door soon opened. "We're in the lab, preparing for tomorrow. Do you guys want to order a pizza around six for dinner?"

"Yes please!" Danny eagerly agreed, alongside a chorus of "Yeah!" and "Please, Mrs. Fenton!" from his friends.

"Okay, then come down and get us when it's about six so we can order, we shouldn't be doing anything experimental so you can just come right on down," Maddie instructed, and she shut the door again before heading down the stairs.

"Hey, Tucker right?" Tucker felt Nico's hand slap down on his shoulder, and he glanced over his shoulder to see the man smiling warmly at him. "You're interested in some of the programs I've written, right? You wanna come help me do the final tuning on some of my stuff for tomorrow?" Tucker broke out into a grin.

"Hell yeah!" he blurted out. He glanced over his shoulder at his friends. "Uh, you guys mind?"

"Not at all!" Sam chirped, waving a hand. "Go on!" Danny nodded eagerly in agreement. Danny held out his hand, and Tucker passed along his backpack and sleepover bag.

The man went up the stairs towards the guest room he and Vlad were sharing in the OP center, Tucker eagerly following. Tucker put his hand on the banister as he went up the steps after him.

"What are you presenting at the convention, Mr. Technus?" Tucker questioned. Nico hummed.

"You can just call me Nico. But I've been developing a camera that can take photos of ghosts despite them being invisible," he explained. "The technology is in the lens, but it needs some fine-tweaking to make sure that the image can properly detect and show up."

"That sounds so amazing," Tucker awed. Nico opened the guest bedroom door. Despite only being there a short time, the room was already littered with inventions and spare parts, as well as clothing and other miscellaneous items. He glanced up at Nico curiously. "But, that sounds like really good ghost-hunting technology. Why not implement it in like, a scanner or something?" Nico rubbed the back of his neck with a light chuckle.

"The technology needed to power the thing is kinda heavy for a scanner. The camera's more like a video camera. But I'm hoping if the proof of concept is good enough at the convention that it can be bought, and we'd be paid to make it more sleek and portable." Nico moved towards the bed, where a large video camera style invention was laying on the bed, spare parts around. A small tool bag laid near it. Nico pushed a few parts out of the way. "Here." He picked up a small tool from the bag, motioning for Tucker to come over. "Have you ever built a computer before?" Tucker nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, I built my current computer with my dad," he explained. Nico nodded.

"Good, then this should be easy." Nico began to point out how to click the spare parts on the bed into the camera.

"Why is this thing in pieces anyway?" Tucker questioned, snapping a piece into place.

"Easier to transport, and to be completely sure it doesn't break before the big presentation," he replied with a chuckle. "This is the main time I'd rather not have the darn thing break on me. I've been working on this a long time, and it's something I'm really eager to show off. It's the first ghost-hunting intended weapon I've developed in a while."

"Really?" Tucker questioned, glancing up at him. Nico nodded, and he handed Tucker another piece.

"Where you think that goes?" he questioned. Tucker stared at the camera on the bed before hesitantly hovering the piece over a certain area. Nico grinned. "Yup." Tucker smiled and began to screw it in, accepting screws as Nico handed them to him. "Lately I've been doing a lot of software programs for Vlad. Ever since he bought Axion Labs, he's been wanting a new software to replace the old one. The old one only runs on Windows 95."

"Damn," Tucker whistled softly. Nico laughed.

"My exact words," he admitted. "You're a good kid, Foley." Tucker beamed, and he paused as he felt Nico's hand rest on his shoulder again. Nico was giving him a serious look. "So, you should really know that there's a lot of people in this world you can't trust. Talented and smart guys, those with so much potential and so much to offer, people like us, we have to stick together, you know?" Tucker raised an eyebrow, a bit unsure but nodded.

"Yeah. I think I get it," he said slowly. "I mean, I don't really see many black men in the industry. It's just...It's super cool to see one on all the tech magazines." Nico lightly patted his back.

"Yeah, man," he agreed. He motioned to the camera before taking it from Tucker. He put the final piece on. "You're a natural, Tuck. You're going to go far in this line of work. You ever want a job, just give me a call." Nico reached for a wallet on a dresser, pulling out a business card to hand to Tucker. He accepted it eagerly, reading it. "Even now, Vlad and I got all sorts of part time work that a student can get into."

"Thanks, Nico!" Tucker said cheerfully. He carefully put the business card into his own wallet. "Do you need any other help?" Nico shook his head.

"Nah, it's all put together," he replied, turning the camera over in his hands. "I'm going to put it up, then got some business to go over with Vlad."

"Alright! See you tomorrow!" Tucker waved as he left the room.

Nico glanced up, watching as a glimpse of the kid slipped into Danny's room. He went to the door, closing it and softly locking it. Black rings appeared, and he picked up the invention. He stood in front of the mirror and switched it on as he began to test it.


End file.
